(1) Augmentum | Zuko

Chapter Seventy-Five

A/N – SO I WASN'T FEELING THE KISS, I MEAN, IT WAS GREAT TO WRITE IT, AND I LIKED IT, BUT THE TIMING FOR ME WAS OFF. RATHER THAN GOING BACK TO CHANGE THAT WHOLE EPISODE, I AM ADDING IN A TWIST, AND PUTTING IT BACK ON COURSE FOR MY ORIGINAL TIMELINE.

...

Something bothers Zuko the next time that he wakes. Something cold drags over his skin. A pit in his stomach. Though he can feel Eevee, warm at his side, there is just something that sits wrong with him. He sits up and touches his side to find that he's back on his ship. Back in his quarters. Back on his bed. He frowns. Because this isn't right. He was in Arkala. With Rana. His heart pounds in his chest, trying to figure out what is going on. The door opens and Iroh walks in, carrying a tea tray. His eyes land on Zuko and a sense of great relief washes over him.

"You're finally awake" Iroh offers as he sets the tray of tea down on the dresser. "I was worried"

"What?" Zuko asks, fingers pressing into his side, but there is nothing. No injury. No bandages. No pain. There should be pain. He knows he was hurting there. He was hurt.

"You've been unconscious for days" Iroh informs him as he pours them both out a drink. "That girl and her shirshu, after it caught your neck....you took a funny turn...." Zuko frowns and reaches up to touch the back of his neck where the shirshu had struck him. It's sore and swollen. A funny turn. He must have had a bad reaction to it. So the last few days, him searching for Rana, him telling her how he feels about her, none of it actually happened. But he can't get his head around it. Everything about it felt so real.

"What about the bounty hunter?" Zuko asks as he pushes himself to his feet. "Where is she now? What about...?" 

"I had a bird from a contact in a village, the Avatar and his group passed through, they're fine....she's fine" Zuko lets out a breath and then looks at his uncle.

"Shakra?" He asks, Iroh looks at him surprised. "Is that your contact?"

"She is" Iroh answers. "How did you know that?"

"I don't know" Zuko admits. "I just knew" Some of that dream is real. Shakra is alive. Iroh just confirmed that. Which means that the vastaya are alive too. He didn't make that up. He doesn't know how he knows that. So how can he know that if none of the last few days happened? He moves to the desk, where the tome is still sitting open. He touches it and lets his eyes scan over the rest of the desk, over everything that is sat there. The bracelet cuff that he gave Rana. It's sitting right there on his desk. He closes his eyes and lets out a breath.

"Prince Zuko?" Iroh asks, Zuko closes his eyes and curls his fingers into the cuff as he picks it up.

"I had a dream....it felt so real" He whispers in admittance. It sinks it. He never ran off to save Rana. He was stuck in his bed, suffering an allergic reaction to the paralytic. It was all in his head. A dream. But real at the same time. He can feel that some of those things happened. He can't explain it. He just knows things. "The vastaya are alive, aren't they?" He asks. Iroh sighs a little. "She's not the last one"

"No, she's not" Iroh answers, watching Zuko. "How...?" He then realises. "Your dream?"

"So it would seem" Zuko offers and lets out a breath, looking down at the tome as he flicks through it. Stopping on a page titles 'Spirit-Bond'. He remembers passing it before but thought little of it. But that woman. She called him spirit-bound. "What do you know about the True Elementals?"

"I've read that book cover to cover, as I assumed you had" Iroh answers, Zuko shakes his head.

"No, just...a few pages here and there" He admits and touches the page. "What about the spirit-bond?" He turns and looks at Iroh, who is looking at him with a mix of sadness, understanding, and joy. Zuko's not sure what to make of that.

"So that's how you know" Iroh comments and lifts his tea to his lips. Zuko gives him a look, imploring him to explain just what it means. "A spirit-bond is a connection, a linking of two spirits....you and Rana are connected, linked together, spirit to spirit...." Zuko hums and looks down at the book. That would explain the dreams. They are connected. That's why he's been dreaming of her. Feeling her. Hearing her. Whispers in his ears as he wakes. It's all because of this spirit-bond. This thing that links them together. And he doesn't hate how it felt. To say those things to her. To choose her. Iroh is right. He and Rana are bound now. That dream just proves it. But he doesn't hate that either. There has always been something about her. Even when they were children. He smiles and nods. He knows what it means. No cryptic clues. No hidden messages. That dream was pretty damn clear to him. Showing him exactly where he is meant to be. With her. It's his subconscious kicking his ass into gear. He sets the cuff against his chest and closes his eyes. "Heading?" Iroh asks. Zuko lets out a breath, he can remember them talking about the North Pole, he assumes that's something to do with the water tribe up there. He looks at Iroh.

"North," Zuko tells him. "We go North" Iroh nods and then leaves the room. Zuko takes a deep breath and nods. This is the right thing to do. The best place for him to go. He wants to be that person that he saw in that dream. He wants to be able to look at her like that. To talk to her like that. To see her looking back at him the way she was.