┊𝑰𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆┊

chapter 5

The waves were making the ship tilt so far, he thought they would flip for sure. The rain was pouring down so hard, he could barely see through it and he was sliding everywhere. Every step he took landed him flat on his back on the deck. He called out for his uncle, but couldn't even hear himself over the storm.

He was looking around frantically for anyone, but no one was there. Then he noticed that there was a hole forming in the clouds where the sun was shining through. He watched it with interest before looking to where it was shining. A girl was standing in the middle of the deck. There was no rain falling on her, in fact, she was completely dry. He saw her long dark hair flying loosely around her downturned face, her flowing white dress danced around her. He beckoned over the storm for her to look up, but she was deaf to her surroundings.

Suddenly, her head shot up, her blue eyes glowing in the sunlight. They stared at him, through him, threatening him as beautiful as they were. She brought her hands up to the sky and the storm stopped immediately, but she didn't dare move. He started towards her, determined to know who she was. Something was eerily familiar about her, he knew it. Before he could reach her, her hands shot out again and he was drowning in the ocean, having been swept off his own ship by a giant wave.

He jumped up and yelled out loud, waking Iroh and Katara both. It was sometime between midnight and dawn, but either way it was very dark outside. Katara peaked down the hall towards Zuko's room and saw Iroh doing the same.

"Is he okay?" she whispered.

"I don't know. It was probably another nightmare."

"Does he have them often?"

"Only recently, yes."

"Should we do something?"

"You can try. The last time I tried, I was almost burned to a crisp. You can handle your own if he tries something."

"I guess it's worth a shot." She tiptoed past Iroh and stopped in front of Zuko's door. "Should I knock?"

"No, just go on in."

Katara hesitantly and quietly opened the door. Zuko hadn't noticed her come in. He was sitting up in his bed with his head in his hands, staring into his lap. She tiptoed over to him and reached out to touch his bare shoulder when his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

"I'm fine. What are you doing in here?" He never looked up from his lap and kept his head in the hand that wasn't holding her wrist.

"Iroh wanted me to come and check on you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not with you, no."

"If not me, then who? You're not exactly one to open up to people."

"What about you? I haven't exactly heard you sharing you life story with anyone around here."

"That's because you're never around to hear it. Iroh and Kiatoh know plenty about me."

"What about your mother? Do they know about that?"

"I thought we had a deal."

"I'm not speaking bad about her, therefore not breaking our deal."