Avatar: The Fifth Element

6. Intimidation

"Hey! Where have you been all morning?" an angry voice boomed, and the group turned to see a boy, around Rumi's age. He was obviously a waterbender, and his thin but muscular build was meant to intimidate.

"Just around," Rumi reported, casually taking a sip of tea.

"Just around, huh? Well I was worried about you! I haven't seen you all morning and now that I do, you're sitting with a bunch of strangers and one of them won't take his eyes off you!" the boy continued shouting, hovering over Zuko, who noticeably shrunk when the boy called him out.

"They're barely strangers," Rumi's tone harshened. "Look, it's the Avatar! How could you not recognize that? Are you that dense, Kaito?"

"Whatever, if they're here, it means there's some kind of trouble," the boy, Kaito, said matter-of-factly.

He looked as if he was about to leave, but quickly spun back around and clasped a hand on Zuko's face, turning him as to make sure he could look Zuko dead in the eyes.

"Don't even think about looking at her again, you pig. Fire Lord or not, I'll beat you at a fight anytime," Kaito spat, not breaking eye contact.

Zuko clenched his fist, prepared to fight, but Aang put a gentle hand on his arm, "Don't, it's not worth it."

This obviously didn't work though, as Zuko swung his fist with the intention of hitting Kaito right in the face, but Kaito easily stopped it by clenching onto Zuko's fist. He laughed and raised a hand, drawing the water from Rumi's tea and clenched it into a fist of ice.

"Kaito, stop!" Rumi jolted up and gripped onto his shoulders, shoving him away from Zuko. "Just get outta here, I'll see you later."

"Wait," Kaito said as he pulled her away from the group.

They couldn't make out what the two were saying, but the group watched as Rumi placed a hand on Kaito's chest, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Of course she has to be with him," Sokka says sarcastically.

"Zuko, are you alright?" Katara asked softly, but she inherited a rather harsh response.

"Of course I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? All of you have been on my back since we got here!" Zuko barked, immediately standing up and turning to leave.

"Where are you going now? You sure have been storming off a lot today," Toph prodded.

"Just back to the inn," his shoulders drooped a little, "I'm tired."

***

Once back at the inn, Zuko flopped face down into the bed and groaned. After several long minutes of laying there, he got up and paced around the room, eventually stopping at the mirror.

Zuko sighed and dropped his head. He didn't want to have to look at the permanent, hideous scar on his face, much less the rest of him that he learned to hate so deeply.

With a look of disappointment, he faced himself again, "Why are you so stupid? I threw a ball of fire at her! Why would I do that?!"

He stopped when he heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, Zuko, it's me," Aang's voice came from the other side, and Zuko begrudgingly let him in.