Fire Heart

Chapter 11

I smile and pour Zuko a cup of tea.

"See, Zuko, isn't some quiet quality time together nice?" I ask. Zuko gives me a small smile and picks up his cup of tea. The ship shifts quickly and Zuko spills his tea all over himself. I put a hand over my mouth in shock.

"Are you okay?" I ask, knowing that the tea was hot. He growls.

"I'm fine. Stay here. I'm going to see what caused the ship to shake like that." Zuko says before leaving. I sigh and clean up the spilled tea. I guess I'll just have to make some more. I start another kettle of tea. I then sit down with my cup of tea from the last tea I made and sip it. The door slams open just as the kettle lets out a whistle. I remove it from the heat and pour Zuko a cup. Zuko walks over to me and sits down across from me.

"It was a girl on some sort of animal. It smelled a stow away on the ship. And it's tongue petrifies whatever it touches. We could get it to smell that necklace I have of the Water Tribe girl. Then it would take us straight to the Avatar." Zuko says. I bite my lip.

"We'll go later. For now, can we please just enjoy some tea?" I ask. He sighs.

"Fine. Only one cup though." Zuko replies. I smile happily and sip my tea. He goes to sip his, but I hold my hand out. I open my mouth to stop him, but he already takes a sip. He slams the cup on the table and puts a hand over his mouth, wincing in pain from the hot tea.

"I should've warned you ahead of time! I had to make a whole new kettle of tea!" I exclaim, crawling around the table and sitting beside him.

"Do you know how to heal with your water bending?" Zuko asks. But I can barely understand what he said because his mouth is swollen.

"Not really. But I can try." I reply. I water bend some water into his mouth and try to heal it. The water glows blue and it disappears after a while.

"Did it work?" I ask. He sits there for a second.

"Yeah, it worked." He replies. I grin.

"Yay! I can heal!" I cheer.

"If only you knew you could heal when I burned you." Zuko sighs, glancing at my left arm. I shrug and kiss his cheek.

"Let me cool your tea down a bit." I say and send a small amount of air to his cup of tea. The steam disappears and I gesture for him to drink it. Zuko does and nods.

"Thank you." Zuko says.

"Of course!" I exclaim. Zuko sips his tea again and I rest my head on his shoulder.

"I-Ivy, I was wondering..." Zuko trails off. I look up at him.

"What is it, Zuzu?" I ask. He sets his tea down and turns to me fully.

"I was wondering if you ever thought about us lately." Zuko says nervously. I raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" I ask. He takes my hands and looks at his lap.

"I mean, do you ever think about where we're going with our relationship." Zuko replies. I frown.

"Wait, you're not breaking up with me are you?" I ask worriedly. He shakes his head rapidly.

"No no! Of course not! I was just thinking that maybe we could get married sooner. It's just that it'd feel more permanent. Because I do love you very much, Ivy. But I just feel like I could lose you so easily." Zuko admits. I give him a quick kiss.

"You won't lose me. The only thing that could take me away from you is death or imprisonment." I tell Zuko. He pulls me into a hug. I smile.

"Neither of those will happen. But when you become my wife, I'll just feel like I can keep you more safe." Zuko mumbles. I close my eyes and snuggle into his chest.