After two days, we finally reached where we started before; the shores of the Earth Kingdom.
The plank was lowered.
"I hate this," Zuko muttered.
"I'm so excited," I said, literally jumping all over the place.
"Uncle, are you coming?" Zuko asked, turning to Iroh.
"Nah, I don't want to. I'm slow and I'll just hold you back. Go on without me," Iroh said.
I stopped jumping.
"You're not coming?" I asked, disappointed. "We need you!"
"No, you'll be fine without me. If you need help," Iroh smiled, and suddenly I heard the fierce cry of a hawk above our heads. It was a fire Nation hawk, the Fire Nation Emblem on its chest. The hawk landed on Zuko's shoulder and I realized it was a messenger hawk. "just send me a message," Iroh said, waving. "You better hurry."
I hugged him so hard he I thought he was going to pass out but I still didn't let go.
"Well I guess this is goodbye then," I sniffed, my eyes tearing up just a tiny bit.
"I assure you," Iroh put a hand on my shoulder, "We will meet again. No one can tell the future."
I nodded, wiping my eyes quickly.
"Uncle, I'll be seeing you in a few days," Zuko said, fixing the huge bag on his back and blowing hair out of his eyes.
"Make that a month or two," Iroh chuckled. "You're walking back."
"Uncle!" Zuko sputtered. "There is no way-"
"We'll talk about this later," Iroh tutted. Then with one last hug to Iroh, Zuko and I turned and walked back down the plank and onto the earth. I was still swaying because of the time I'd spend in a rocking ship above waves of water. Stumbling, I waved to Iroh again who waved back. Zuko pushed my hand down.
"Give it a rest, Ayame." He scoffed as he began trudging towards the forest. I fixed the bag on my back and kicked his ankle. "What the heck was that for?" he yelled, whipping around.
"I will not give it a rest. There's a huge chance I probably won't be seeing him, remember?" I asked heavily. "I barely knew him but he acted like he was my father. But you don't understand that, right Prince Zuko?" I shook my head. "You take him for granted because you don't know how it feels to leave someone who loves you, and probably never even see them again. Aren't I right?"
Zuko sent a piercing I'm-gonna-kill-you look right into my eyes. "You have no idea what I've been through." He said in a low, threatening voice. "So you better get your facts straight before I hear another thing come out of you're mouth, unless you want to guess who's staying here," he pointed at the ground, "And who's going back." He lifted his hand towards the ship that I realized we'd left behind further than I paid attention.
I shrugged and pushed past him. "Alright, if you say so." I threw my bag at him. "Nice meeting you." then I turned around and walked back to the ship.
"Wait!" he yelled after me. "Where are you going?"
"You said to guess which one of us is staying and which one is going. So I guessed you're staying." I politely said, continuing my walk.
"No, I didn't—" he stuttered, "I meant—" You aren't—oh for the love of— you know what, forget it!" he exploded and threw my bag at me. "Just come on!"
I grinned slyly, successful. Then I followed him, swinging the heavy bag onto my back and walking through the forest.
♋♋♋
Iroh wished all the best for them. Zuko needed a change, to be bossed around for once instead of bossing others around. That's why he sent him with Ayame; the sweetest yet most stubborn person he'd met in his life. Her mind and heart were set in the right place—joining the Avatar, which he hoped she would pull Prince Zuko into.
And as they left, Ayame kept waving to him which brought tears to his eyes as he waved back. She was the perfect daughter. She was kind and not stuck-up, but more on the I'll-do-what-I-know-is-right type. Iroh broke out laughing as he watched them already start arguing as soon as they stepped off the ship. He wished them the best of luck.
🔥🔥🔥
After about an hour or two, we stopped by a stream. Lifting the small leather canteen, I swayed my hands in the air and a stream of water seperated, rising into the air. I turned my hand and the water poured into the canteen, and then I did the same to Zuko's.
"When will we take a rest?" I asked after I drank water, refreshed.
Zuko shrugged. "When you want. It's your time that'll be wasted for finding the Avatar."
"Then why are you even here?" I narrowed my eyes, sitting back on my haunches.
"Because we had a deal. We both benefit from finding him," Zuko said, rolling his eyes. "As soon as you find him, you join him. When I see him, I can capture him, and we're enemies by that time so you can fight for him."
"I don't think you want to do that," I grinned. "I burned your butt last time."
"No, it was a tie," Zuko mumbled.
"No I whipped your sorry arse, so you shouldn't be talking," I snickered, getting to my feet.
"I went easy on you."
"So you admit you lost?" I smirked.
"No, I didn't—just come on. You want to stop for a rest? let's do that. Just stop talking," he was almost begging.
"Okay."
We walked a little more and then stopped as it got dark. Yawning, I set my bag on the floor and Unpacked my sleeping bag, plopping on it. I propped my head up on my arms and looked at Zuko who was collecting firewood. I let him build a fire before I started nagging him again.
He dropped the wood on the floor and punched fire at it with loud hya's. After he unpacked his bag and laid on the sleeping bag on the opposite side of the fire, I sat up.
"Zuko?" I called out.
"What," he groaned. I heard him shift, facing towards me.
"Im hungry," I complained.
"Good for you," he mumbled.
"Can you find something?" I asked, rubbing my eyes tiredly. "Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Let. Me. Sleep."
"You're nice," I scowled, my stomach rumbling.
There was a pause.
"So... Are you going?" I asked.
Zuko sat up, hair ruffled, a deep scowl painted on his almost - perfect features. He threw back his covers. "Why the hell won't you just be quiet for once? Can't you just stay hungry for the night?"
"Can't you stay patient for once?" I mocked. "Oh. Guess not."
I guess I had made my point.
I thought he was going to rip his hair out but thankfully, he didn't. All he did was walk to the fire and kick rocks and dirt into it in anger and then turn and disappear into the forest. Part of me wanted to call him back because it would be hard to find food at night, but the other part told me to shut up and to teach him patience. I decided to go with my second part and I lay back, waiting.
He came back when I was almost about to sleep, my eyes half closed. I sat up.
"All I found were berries," he said tiredly. He bent down and put them in front of me. "Enjoy."
"Don't you want some?" I asked, feeling bad.
"No."
I silently played with them, popping a few of the berries in my mouth. They were sweet and tart at the same time. Then I lay back down and sighed.
What a tiring night.
