Homeless Dragon- Zuko

Ch. 4 Zuko

Zuko woke up from his sleep, and looked eastward and saw the sun rising. He groaned, and laid back face down on the pile of leaves that he had made into a bed. After a few seconds, his eyes shot open.

"IT'S DAWN?" he cried out as he pushed himself onto his knees.

The rest of his body couldn't catch up to his sudden awakening and his legs gave way to the weight of his body. He lost balance, and landed on his back on the moist ground. Zuko pushed himself off from his awkward position, and felt control of his body return to him slowly. He got back onto his feet and dusted himself off.

"Did I really sleep that long?" he asked himself.

He had slept through the day when he got back from his stealth mission, and all through the night. It was amazing to Zuko, since the last time he had slept for that long was when he was a child, and he wondered why it happened now. He wondered if it was because of the stealth mission. Something like that did require a lot of energy to pull off, both physical and mental. However, the more he thought about it, he realized it was something he didn't have that night.

Nightmares.

It was odd for Zuko to sleep so soundly and for so long. Nightmares were the main reason for that. He usually had one once a night, and they were short because of it. He didn't think about it for long though since he knew today was going to be a very busy day. With an appointment with the Avatar, as well as some negotiating to do with an herbalist ahead of him, he quickly stretched the last bit of tiredness from his body.

Feeling good from his rarely comfortable night of sleep, Zuko gathered his things together, and when he was ready, went off to the mountain.

xXxXx

"Welcome Lee," smiled Katara.

It didn't sound right, and Katara cleared her throat.

"Thank you for joining us Lee," she repeated with a similar smile.

That also didn't sound right.

"Ugh, why is this so hard," she muttered to herself.

"Probably because you're forcing it out," said Aang from behind.

Katara jumped at the sound of Aang's voice, and turned around to see him and Sokka trying not to giggle.

"H-How long were you there?" she demanded.

"Long enough to know you'd make a pretty bad actress," said Sokka, "Why are you so concerned with trying to welcome Lee. I mean, not that that's a bad thing, but you don't really like the guy."

Katara sighed.

"Look, it's not that I don't like him, it's just that... you guys are lucky. Your experiences with Lee were good. All I got from him was a lecture on how stupid my actions were, and that ungrateful attitude from rescuing him."

"Well, he apologized for that," chimed in Aang.

"I know," said Katara before sighing, "And I know I was a bit of a pain when it came to Lee last night, but if you guys are adamant about this, then well... I suppose I can put aside my feelings and give him a chance."

Sokka smiled at his sister's change of heart.

"Thanks Katara," he said warmly with a hand on her shoulder, "I'm glad to see you're coming around. Now finish getting ready, we're going to be late."

As Sokka walked away, her thoughts settled on what was to happen in the next couple of hours.

A part of her didn't believe it was going to be as easy as Aang and Sokka seemed to think. True, Lee did owe them, but he always gave the impression that he was very reluctant to even be near them. However, she chose not to voice that opinion, seeing as how she was seen as the one who didn't want him around. After all, their first meeting and interaction were not pleasant in any way.