White Hot Flames (ZukoxOC)

51

        Aang, as it turned out, did not react well to conflict. He was gone by the time everyone was packed and ready and nobody could find him. They scoured the island and nothing. The only thing alluding to his prescence at all was the staff he'd left behind and his footprints leading out to the ocean.

"So, he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki asks, frowning slightly.

"Maybe he was captured," Katara adds.

Sokka shakes his head. "I don't think so. There's no sign of a struggle."

"He could've been taken at sea," Rezalia murmurs, leaning down to examine the footprints.

Toph wrinkles her nose. "I bet he ran away again."

"Uh-uh. He left behind his glider and Appa," Sokka reasons.

"Then what do you think happened to him, oh sleuthy one?" Toph scoffs.

"It's pretty obvious. Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle? He's definitely on a Spirit World journey."

Zuko cocks his head to the side a bit in the way he does when he's trying to solve a puzzle. "But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?"

Sokka deflates. "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."

"Then he's got to be somewhere on Ember Island. Let's split up and look for him," Katara says, looking around at the others. At her words, Suki slips her hand into Sokka's and Toph clings to Zuko's arm. Panicked, he looks at the other with wide eyes, only to recieve confused looks from the others and a raised eyebrow from Rezalia. He assumed she wasn't too angry as she seemed amused as well. He hoped she wasn't angry.

"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph seems to sense their confusion. "What? Everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn."

Rezalia laughs. "Fair enough. Guess you're stuck with me, then, Katara." The waterbender smiles and allows the other to link their arms.

They searched and the closest they got to finding him was the actress in town square. When they all met back up at the house, it was revealed that one, nobody had found a trace of Aang and two, Momo was missing as well. Sokka gasps, as overdramatic as ever. "Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time! Appa ate Momo! Momo, I'm coming for you, buddy."

He opens Appa's jaw, examining the inside. "Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang," Katara sighs.

"That's just what Appa wants you to think," Sokka murmurs as he begins to climb into Appa's mouth.

Zuko reaches out and grabs the back of the other boy's shirt. "Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka. We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away."

"What should we do Zuko?" Katara asks. The others turn to look at him as well, Rezalia with more amusement than anything else.

Zuko shifts uncomfortably. "I don't know. Why are you all looking at me?"

"Well, you are the expert on tracking Aang," Katara explains.

"Yeah, Z. Let's hunt the avatar again."

Zuko scowls at her but wasn't able to hide the slight twitch of his lips. "Fine."

It doesn't take long to board Appa as his saddle had already been packed. Zuko takes the reins and steers them away from the island. Rezalia had never really spent much time doing the actual tracking of the avatar so she swings her legs over the side of the saddle and settles in for the ride.