Fire Heart

Chapter 50

I yawn as I sit up. Everyone else are still sleeping. I rub my eyes and my stomach ties itself in knots as a ring of fire surrounds out tiny camp.

"Get up! Get up!" I yell at my husband and friends. They jump up, ready to fight. I stand up and Zuko pulls me close to him. We look up to see four old guys standing on a cliff. And they're not just any old guys! I recognize Master Pakku and Sokka's sword fighting teacher, Master Piandau.

"Well look who it is!" The crazy looking old man on the left snorts. The four men soon join us.

"Everyone this is King Bumi. He's Aang's old friend." Katara introduces the crazy old guy.

"And this is Aang's first Firebending teacher, John John." Katara says, gesturing to the old guy with spiky white hair. We walk over to Master Pakku.

"Hi Master Pakku!" I exclaim and bow to him. He chuckles and bows back.

"Hello Ivy. It's good to see one of my most promising students again." Master Pakku says with a smile. I smile back. I then back up with Toph and Rin so everyone can greet each other.

"So how do you all know each other?" Toph asks.

"All old people know each other, didn't you know that?" Bumi snorts in amusement. I laugh.

"We're part of an old group that transcends the four nations." Piandau explains.

"The Order of the White Lotus." Zuko and I say with big smiles. Bumi grins.

"That's the one!" Bumi praises us.

"And it is the call of a Grand Lotus, your Uncle, Iroh of the Fire Nation that brought us here." Master Pakku tells us.

"Great! That's who we're looking for!" Rin exclaims.

"Then we shall take you to him." Piandau says with a smile. Bumi hurries forward and stares crazily at Sokka.

"You're missing someone from your group. Someone very important." Bumi says. "Where's Momo?"

"He's gone. And so is Aang." Sokka replies, wide eyed. Bumi shrugs and pats Sokka's chest, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Well as long as they have each other, I'm sure we've got nothing to worry about." Bumi says. I laugh.

"Now let's go." Bumi laughs and Earthbends ahead of us. We hurry after him.

"So how did you escape?" Sokka asks Bumi.

"So there I was in my metal box on the day of the eclipse..." Bumi begins his story. I don't really pay attention to it.

"Wow. You took back your city all by yourself?" Suki asks in amazement.

"Did you guys do anything on the eclipse?" Bumi asks. Zuko, Sokka, and I glance at each other awkwardly.

"No." Zuko says.

"Not really." Sokka says, stretching his arms. I glance down at Masumi.

"No, nothing special." I say. We reach a camp with many tents.

"So where's Uncle Iroh?" I ask Master Pakku. He smiles and points at a big tent up ahead. Zuko and I bow to Master Pakku before making our way over to the tent.

"Ready?" I ask Zuko.

"Yeah I'm ready. Are you ready?" He asks. I scoff.

"Oh I'm totally ready. But are you ready?" I tease.

"Oh I'm so ready." Zuko replies. I sigh.

"We're stalling right now...aren't we?" I mumble.

"Definitely." Zuko says before opening the tent for me. I enter and he follows right after. We see Uncle sleeping, his snoring is just as loud as I remember it. We kneel before him and I rock Masumi gently in my arms. We wait for a while. And thankfully, Uncle wakes up.

"Uncle, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me." Zuko begins. I look at him and see tears building up in his eyes.

"But I am so, so sorry Uncle. I'm so sorry and ashamed of what I did." Zuko says and begins to cry. I feel tears burning my own eyes at just the sight of my husband crying.

"I don't know how I could ever make it up to you bu..." Zuko begins, but is cut off by Uncle turning around and quickly pulling him into a hug. They're both crying.

"I don't understand. How could you forgive me so easily? I thought you'd be furious with me." Zuko cries.

"I was never angry with you, Zuko. I was sad because I thought you had lost your way." Uncle replies. I hold Masumi close to me, as a way to keep me from crying.

"I did lose it." Zuko says. Uncle pulls out of the hug and leaves his hands on Zuko's shoulders.

"But you found it again, and you did it by yourself. And I am so happy that you have found your way here." Uncle says with a small smile.

"It wasn't that hard Uncle." Zuko says as they hug again. "You have a pretty strong scent."

I begin to cry. Masumi gives me a weird look.

"Oh great. You two got me all worked up." I cry, desperately wiping the tears off my face. Uncle pulls out of the hug and looks at me.

"Ivy! It is so good to see you!" Uncle exclaims. Zuko takes Masumi from me, allowing Uncle to pull me into a hug.

"I'm so proud of you. You've been so strong throughout your journey. You've had to strike out on your own to find your brother. And doing so you had to leave Zuko. You had to leave what was comfortable for you. But it has lead you to be the beautiful, strong young woman you are." Uncle says, running a hand over my hair as I cry into his shoulder.

"Thank you, Uncle." I say shakily, hugging him tightly. We pull away from the hug and Zuko hands Masumi back to me.

"You had your baby!" Uncle says excitedly. Zuko and I smile.

"Uncle, meet your grandniece, Masumi." I say with a big smile. More tears fill Uncle's eyes.

"She's beautiful. She looks just like you, Ivy." Uncle says. I hand Masumi to him. Zuko wraps an arm around me.

"Hello Masumi." Uncle greets her. She smiles and pulls on his beard.

"Yow!" Uncle exclaims. He chuckles and strokes his beard as Masumi giggles. Zuko and I smile at each other, happy to see Uncle again.

"Now this is what I want. I don't care if we live in the palace. I don't care if we're rich. I want a big happy family." I tell Zuko, remembering how he wanted his honor back so he could provide a home and money for me.

"After all we've been through, I'm starting to see what you always saw." Zuko agrees. I kiss his cheek. We watch Uncle as he tickles Masumi's belly. I never want us to be separated again, our family is now together as a tightly knit unit again. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I hope you all liked this chapter! I'm trying to make up for all the time I've been slacking on this book. So let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. Have an awesome day!

- Day