Fire Heart

Chapter 7

Uncle Iroh moves his lotus tile and I groan.

"Not again." I whine. Uncle Iroh bursts out laughing.

"Don't worry, Ivy. You'll get the hang of the game after a while." Uncle says. I smile at him. Zuko storms onto the ship.

"They said the Avatar is moving quickly in that direction. We can still catch him." Zuko says and orders the Captain to go across the ocean. I sigh. Zuko looks at me.

"Ivy, I know he's your half-brother, but I need to regain my honor. I need to give you a stable home." Zuko says. I look up at him and hold my arms out to him. He walks over to me and sits beside me. Uncle stands up and walks a little ways away. Zuko pulls me into a hug.

"Do you think your father will hurt Aang?" I whisper. Zuko tightens his arms around me, causing me to be squished into his chest.

"I....I don't know." Zuko replies. I shut my eyes and feel a tear run down my cheek. Zuko rubs my back gently as I begin to cry.

"Ivy...you don't even know him." Zuko says.

"He's still my family." I cry. He kisses the top of my head.

"I know. And I wish that he wasn't the Avatar. But he is, and I have to bring him to my father in order to redeem my honor." Zuko replies gently. I sniffle.

"I love you, Zuzu." I whisper. Zuko smiles and pulls away from me, putting his hands on the sides of my face.

"I love you too, Ivy." Zuko says before kissing me. He's been shockingly affectionate lately. I giggle against his lips. Zuko pulls back and raises his eyebrow at me.

"What's so funny?" Zuko asks, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I don't know. I just felt some sort of amusement in my head." I giggle. Zuko chuckles.

"I'm going to go meditate. Come get me when you find something to do with Aang. Or if dinner is ready." I say. Zuko nods. I stand up and make my way to my room. I sit in front of my meditation candles and position myself so I'm sitting criss-cross applesauce. I close my eyes and take even breaths. Suddenly, I feel like I'm being tugged out of my body, if that makes sense. I open my eyes and look around. I see myself sitting in my meditation spot.

"What's going on? Zuko!" I cry. No one comes. Panicked, I go to open my door to find someone, but my hand goes through the door. I gasp in shock and look at my blue hands. I'm almost see through.

"Hello!? Can anyone help me!?" I cry. I look around and that's when a dragon lands in my room. I let out an ear piercing scream. I sink to the floor and cover my eyes. Although it doesn't do me much good since I can see through them. The dragon huffs and touches my forehead with one of its whisker things. A vision of Avatar Roku appears. I gasp.

"You're Roku's animal guide." I say. The dragon nods.

"Why am I here, in the spirit world?" I ask. The dragon touches my forehead again. The image of a comet enters my mind.

"I don't understand. Why would Roku need to talk to me about Sozin's comet? He should talk to Aang about that. And not only that. How am I even supposed to talk to Roku?" I ask in confusion. The dragon lowers his head. I climb on and he takes off flying. We go on and on until we reach a crescent shaped island. It's definitely in the Fire Nation. Then we fly right into a room with a gold statue of Avatar Roku. A red beam of light is on a red jewel on the statue's chest.

"I have to talk to him today!?" I cry. The dragon nods and huffs. Suddenly the room starts to spin and I'm back in my body. I bite my lip. Zuko can't know about this. He wouldn't understand. I pull out a piece of parchment and some ink. Tears fill my eyes.