┊𝑰𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆┊

chapter 29

"Oh Li, it's been too long!" she squealed as she hugged him tight. He wanted nothing more than for his stomach to betray him and throw up again, preferably on her so she'd stop hugging him. But, for the first time in quite a while, his body actually listened to him. She finally let go and struggled to help him sit up. He felt another pair of hands on his other arm and back and, not to his surprise, they belonged to her mother.

His head swam when he finally reached a sitting position and he had to place a hand down behind him to steady himself. He closed his eyes tight and let the feeling pass before he dared to open them again. He felt a nudge on his back and winced, for it was still quite sore from his fall. When he turned to see what it was, he was face-to-face with an all too familiar ostrich-horse.

"It seems he's taken quite a liking to you, Li," Song's mother, Geia, said. "When we found him, he was quite persistant on leaving us. We presumed he wanted to find you again so we let him take us wherever he was trying to go."

"Thank you for the apology letter," Song said quietly. "It was very well written."

"My uncle wrote it." Zuko looked up at the sky and gazed at the stars sparkling in the night. He couldn't help but think of her. "How long have I been out?"

Song smiled gently. "We found you floating on the water this afternoon, probably an hour or two after midday."

Zuko was racking his mind, trying to remember everything that happened and what he needed to do now. His eyes widened in realization and he jumped up, swaying a bit on his feet. "I need to get to the Eastern Air Temple right away. Either that, or I have to find the Avatar's group."

"What's wrong, Li?" Song asked, placing a gently hand on his arm. He pulled it from her grasp, trying not to be too mean about it. They had, after all, saved his life.

"The Avatar is in danger.. and so is my girlfriend." Wow, that sounded weird out loud, he thought. He fought hard to keep a smile back when Song's face dropped.

"You've met the Avatar?" Geia gasped.

Zuko sighed. "I'm one of his teachers and I've been traveling with him for.. around a month, I believe. We split up into two groups earlier today and he was supposed to meet up with me at the Eastern Air Temple after he and his group did something."

"What are you a teacher of?" Song questioned. "I didn't think you were a bender and surely the young monk doesn't use swords."

He lowered his head so as not to see the expressions on their faces when he lit a flame in his hand. "I'm an outcast firebender, nearly a master but my teacher was just killed at Ba Sing Sei."

"Who was your teacher?"

"My uncle.."

Both of the girls gasped and tears sprang to Song's eyes. She wanted to hate him desperately, but he'd been burned and knew something bad had to have happened to him to have been burned and outcast from his own nation. She unconciously grabbed her leg. "I'm so sorry, Li. Is that even your real name?"

"No. My real name is Zuko. My uncle and I had to hide our real identities or we would've been killed. We're not exactly the most popular people in any of the living nations now."

"Well, firebenders usually don't get welcoming parties in the Earth Kingdom," Geia smiled weakly. "What've you done to be wanted by your own nation as well?"