Avatar: The Fifth Element

11. Cowardly

"Alright Aang, we gotta do this carefully. We can't let on that the only reason we're talking to her is to make Zuko sound good," Sokka had explained.

"Then, what are we gonna say?" Aang had asked.

"I don't know yet, but I'll think of something, I always do."

"So Rumi, how's about that black hole thing yesterday? Pretty weird, huh?" Sokka asked seeming oddly proud of himself.

Rumi's reaction was unsuspected though, she flinched and tensed suddenly, "Yeah! Really weird, wonder what that's all about. Why are you asking me about it?"

"Oh, no reason, we just thought you might find it interesting. Y'know what else is interesting?" Sokka raised his eyebrows a couple times, and Aang looked absolutely nerve-struck.

"What is?" Rumi asked, pretending to be enthusiastic.

"Zuko," Sokka said matter-of-factly.

This earned a nudge from Aang, "Real smooth, Sokka," he whispered.

"Ah geez, I see where this is going, I'm leaving," Rumi groaned as she turned away.

"No wait!" Aang stopped her, "Sokka's not wrong! Zuko's uh, a great friend, he's been through a lot, and he turned out pretty good!"

"Yeah," Sokka chimed in. "And he's a pretty good firebender, he can redirect lightening! He's got good, um, hair?"

Rumi could hear in their voices how much the two were struggling. They sounded so uncertain, and either way, the whole situation made Rumi fairly upset.

She rolled her eyes, annoyed, "So why didn't he come and tell me all these 'great things' about him, huh?"

"That's beca—"

"Because he's a coward," Rumi cut Aang off. "People should be able to say things to people's faces, instead of getting their friends to do it for them."

***

Zuko sat anxiously in his room, praying to god that Aang and Sokka weren't embarrassing him. What he was about to learn, was that it went much worse than embarrassment.

His heart started pounding when he heard a loud knock on the door, and Rumi yelling "Open up!"

Right when he opened the door, Rumi shoved herself inside and stared him down with her hands on her hips.

"Are you serious?" she snapped, "You're too cowardly to just talk to me?"

That word, 'coward,' stung like a bug bite to Zuko, he knew it all too well. It made him feel disgusted with himself.

"I—I didn't ask them to do that, they just did! I wouldn't have as—"

"Do you even know how much it sucks when people don't tell me things to my face? It's ostrich horse shit! It's not fair..."

Zuko winced as she talked. It was obvious that this anger was coming from a place of hurt, and he didn't know what to do. Rumi was, in fact, a fairly scary person when she was mad, which made the situation so much harder.

"Look," Zuko said, reaching his hand out to her, but he quickly pulled it away, running it through his hair, "I just—I don't know, you're right."

"I know I'm right. Why did I bother coming here," Rumi threw her hands up and went to leave, when Zuko grabbed onto her arm.

"Stop!"

"No." Rumi said sternly sent a small flame whipping against his wrist and quickly darted outside.

Without hesitation, Zuko chased after her, but she had already outrun him. He saw Aang, Katara, Toph and Sokka and ran up to them.

"Where'd Rumi go?" he asked in a huff.

"Oh I saw her!" Toph exclaimed.

"Where—wait! Don't do that, Toph. Now's not the time," Zuko replied, unamused.

"She's up in that tree," Katara pointed to the biggest tree that grew in center of the village, and Zuko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks."

Rumi looked down and shook her head as she saw Zuko climbing up towards her. He plopped himself on the same branch that Rumi was sitting on, and she shuffled over to give him room.

"Careful you don't break the branch, 'cause then I'm using you as a pillow when we fall," she muttered.

Zuko's face flushed a little and he nodded, shifting his weight.

"The view is really nice up here," Zuko noticed, but he was mostly looking at Rumi.

"Yeah, it's even nicer when you look at it," Rumi said, a small smirk appearing on her face. "I like the clouds in the evening, they're all pink from the sky and wispy."

Zuko looked up at them, when an idea struck him. Excitedly, he grabbed Rumi's shoulder, "Come with me, I know where we can get a better view."

Rumi followed Zuko down and he led her back to the inn, "Wait right here, I'll be right back."

Zuko ran around the village until he finally found what he was looking for: Aang and Katara out for a walk together.

"Aang!" he shouted, out of breath. The two looked at him, confused. "I need to borrow Appa."

—

A/N ~ hi guys! alright so i know the past two chapters have been mostly about Zuko & Rumi's relationship, but the end of the next one is gonna have a bit more action and it'll drive the story forward more.
i hope everyone's enjoying this anyways, i'm really liking writing it, and i've got a bunch of prewritten chapters all ready!
if you're liking it so far, don't forget to vote/comment/share/follow!
—Blaise⚡️