Avatar: The Fifth Element

5. Hostility

Mud smooshed under Rumi's boots as she made her way to the river. The steep land allowed her to glide down smoothly. When she caught sight of Zuko, she stopped for a moment, just to watch him.

He was sitting on a small boulder right at the entrance to the water, aggressively chucking rocks in.

Rumi had a tendency to be sneaky, so she snuck as close as possible without allowing herself to be heard.

"He doesn't know anything. He doesn't know what it's like to have to deal with being me!" Zuko muttered to himself as he began pacing along the riverside. As he sat back down, Rumi noticed how his shirt pulled tightly at his sides, and Zuko self-consciously tugged at his clothing.

Rumi winced, and decided she shouldn't be spying on him like this. Usually, she wouldn't have a care in the world, but this felt too personal.

"Hey," she said in her usual raspy voice, slowly approaching Zuko, who quickly turned around and sent a spiral of fire flying her way. Rumi's reflexes were quick, however, and she deflected it with a shield of her own hot red fire, her hands raised in defence.

"Sorry!" Zuko spluttered, "I didn't know who it was." He proceeded to run a hand aggressively through his thick, black hair.

"So your immediate response is to attack?" Rumi said with a judgemental tone, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I, it's just a reflex. You try living your whole life having to defend yourself, you'd do that too," he spat.

"Don't be so quick to assume that I haven't lived my whole life doing just that," Rumi stepped back defensively. "I gotta say, you're really not what I thought the new Fire Lord would be like."

Zuko's expression turned from anger to something more somber. Rumi thought it might've been sadness, but not quite. Was it shame?

"I wouldn't be surprised if most people thought that," he said, turning his back to Rumi.

She had never been good in situations where people got emotional, and accidentally let a groan slip out. This only led to a more difficult situation as Zuko visibly tensed up.

"Look," Rumi started, "I just came here because your friends wanted me to. They're all having breakfast, you should get some food too."

"Yeah, like food's what I need right now," Zuko scoffed, as he once again tugged at his clothing.

On top of being bad in emotional situations, Rumi hated it when people turned away from her, and were unnecessarily rude and sour. Thus resulting in quite unwarranted reactions.

"You're right, you don't. But either way, your friends wanna see you, and I'm gonna be up there, so you'll get to stare at me all you want," Rumi taunted as she turned on her heel and walked away, her hips slightly swaying, and Zuko would be lying if he said he didn't watch.

***

Aang and the others watched worriedly as Rumi stalked up to them.

"I don't know if he's coming. For your sake, I hope he does," and just as she crossed her arms, Zuko made his appearance as he stormed through the wooden doorway.

"Feeling better?" Katara asked, making sure her tone stayed gentle and calm.

"I'm just great."

"He's lying," Toph remarked.

"Yeah, that was kinda obvious," Sokka whispered.

"Guys, lets just give him some space," Aang suggested. The others, along with Rumi, agreed and sat at a table farther away from where Zuko was hesitantly getting food.

"Hey, Chou!" Rumi called out, "Come eat with us! Zuko doesn't need help getting his food!"

This warranted a gleeful smile from Chou as she put down her cooking utensils, grabbed her own plate of food, and joined the rest of the group.

"So Rumi, what part of the world did you come from?" Katara inquired curiously.

"Lower class Fire Nation," she answered swiftly.

"Yeah, she's a firebender just like me," Chou stated, "but we didn't know each other until we met here, since I was living in the richer area. I'm happy we met though!"

Rumi nodded in agreement. The mood was calm and friendly, that is, until the tension rose when Zuko approached.

"Am I allowed to sit with you guys, or am I banished from the group?" As he said 'banished,' Zuko turned to Rumi, as if she was
in charge.

"Hey," she rose her hands, "you can do whatever you want, and don't act like you don't wanna sit here."

Zuko begrudgingly sat down and picked at his food, frequently stealing glances in Rumi's direction.

"Well, the mood sure took a turn," Sokka noted.

"Tell me about it," Toph mumbled, and then she quickly jumped up, feeling the ground with her feet. "Someone's coming, and he doesn't sound happy."