Wild At Heart (Zuko)

Chapter Thirteen

They end up in a cave in the middle of nowhere, yet again they are using nature, which Iroh had wanted to avoid so Kali wasn't feeling like it was all on her shoulders. No matter how many times she assures them that she doesn't mind doing it. They will hold up here for a while, just till they are sure the threat of the man with the swords is gone. A few days. Till the coin runs out. Zuko watches Kali sleep, curled up in front of the fire. Iroh sleeps in his own bedroll against the wall. He can't sleep. He can't stop thinking about what that man was planning on doing. He can't get it out of his head. He knows she took his coin, but Zuko doesn't think that's punishment enough. He brushes her hair back from her face, tucking the strands behind her ear before he moves to pull the blanket tighter around her, without him there, she's going to get cold.

"I'll be back soon" He whispers, promising her and himself actually. Just this one thing. Just a little bit of justice.

................

The Broadsword Man is walking down a street alone. He hears something behind him, turns and draws his blades but there is nothing behind him. The street is still silent except for his heavy breathing. His fear creeps in.

"Who's there?" His hands are grabbed each in turn by another man's hands. He is disarmed and thrown against some nearby boxes, his swords useless on the ground. His attacker approaches his swords, he picks them up. The Blue Spirit stands before the Broadsword Man who stares back up at him, he cowers as the Blue Spirit moves forward towards him.

...........

The Blue Spirit climbs over a log, passing a quilled chameleon who snatches up a fly. The Blue Spirit stops at a tree and then looks around before he crouches, pulling off the mask before he places it into the hollow of the trunk. Zuko looks out from around the tree before he moves on.

..........

Zuko moves through the cave, careful not to wake Iroh or Kali as he returns. He reaches into his robes and pulls out a children's book. He thought it would be easier for him to use something meant for younger children to help Kali learn to read. He sets it under her bag before he moves to where his bedroll is set up waiting for him.

........

Zuko later wakes to soft footsteps next to him, they most certainly don't belong to Iroh. He holds out his hand without thinking and Kali takes it, letting him pull her down softly into his bedroll. He does it now without thinking. Letting her join him. Letting her curl into him. He adjusts the blanket around the two of them.

"Did your mother ever sing you to sleep?" She asks him, he hums a little.

"Long time ago" He answers. He does remember his mother singing to him before she left them. He brushes his fingers through her hair. "Did your..." He stops, remembering that she has no memories of her family, so she will have no way of answering that. She shrugs a little against him.

"Sometimes I think I remember" She whispers, he looks at her surprised.

"What?" He asks. She leans up a little, hovering over him, resting on her elbow, fingers touching the hair growing back on his head.

"Sometimes I dream of a woman" She admits. "Singing to me, and it makes me sad...I think she's my mother" She frowns a little, trying to remember her, trying to remember anything but there is no face in her dreams, only a voice, a body, and a warmth. She believes that it's her mother. It feels like it's her mother. Zuko reaches up and brushes tears from her cheek, she sniffles a little and turns her head away from him, her hair hiding her.

"Come stop your crying" He sings quietly. "It will be all right......Just take my hand...Hold it tight" She looks back at him and he gives her a look, nodding to his chest, she lays back down at his side, resting her head on his chest over his heart. "I will protect you from all around you. I will be here. Don't you cry" He threads his fingers through her hair as she closes her eyes. He lost track of the number of times his mother sang that song to him, how many times she caught him crying, because of Azula, because of his own lack of fire-bending. It always made him feel better. Hearing her singing to him. He falls silent, listening to Kali breathing softly, asleep against him. He hums the rest of the lullaby as he strokes his fingers through her hair, trying to get back to sleep himself.

.....

Iroh tilts his head watching Kali and Zuko sleeping, curled around one another. Zuko needs Kali as much as she needs them. He knows that. And if Zuko let himself think about it, he will see it too. She's good for him. Just the presence he needs in his life. To keep him on the right path. Kali needs someone her own age to lean on too. Someone she can trust to have her back. Iroh can be a paternal figure but a friend, she needs Zuko to be her friend. Maybe something more. Someone to show her that not all people are terrible. Iroh glances at the dying fire before he uses fire-bending to refresh it before he hums away to himself, moving back to his bedroll.