Flameheart | Zuko

TWENTY-ONE

Homura didn't hear from Suki for a while. The few days that followed were agonisingly slow and she spent them mostly training or taking strolls around the garden, joined by Ursa and Kiyi on more than one occassion, as it seemed like they loved the garden as much as she did. She usually found them near the pond with the turtle ducks as Kiyi loved to feed them and on one occassion, she had caught Zuko sitting with them, taking a break from work no doubt. That time, she hadn't moved to sit with them, not wishing to disrupt their family time.

During the evenings, Ty Lee would find her and until dinner, she wouldn't leave her side. She would tell her all about her day with Mai, taking care to let her know no prisoner had said a word about her. Homura was grateful for her presence but with Suki not talking to her, she wasn't in a good mood. She couldn't be, when she had spent almost ten years with her by her side and suddenly they were in the same place without exchanging a word.

During a morning, a while after her training, though, there was a knock on her door and as Homura called an affirmative response to let them in, Suki entered.

Homura froze, the brush she had been holding slowly lowering to rest on the side as she spied Suki's moves from the mirror. She sat down on the edge of the bed, her eyes on her lap. For a while, she didn't say a word as Homura waited patiently. In the end, she spoke up.

"I talked to Ty Lee and I've thought of your request for a long time." She slowly looked up as Homura turned around in her seat to face her properly. "You will stay here with Ty Lee to make sure Zuko stays out of harm."

An uncontrollable smile formed on her lips and without thinking it through, she rushed over to her and pulled her in for an incredibly tight hug before she realised Suki didn't share her reaction. Slowly, her hands fell as she sat next to Suki, almost awkward. Suki didn't look up.

"You need to be careful. If Zuko finds out about your family he might think you were behind his attack."

She froze. "You think he would?"

"What reason has he not to?" she pointed out as she turned to face her with a slight frown. "I'm sorry things turned out this way between us. It's just that you've been lying to me from the very first moment and I believed you without question. I know if you hadn't lied you would have never managed to get to Kyoshi island but I would have still liked to know beforehand. Not after so many years and not after I was so certain you'd never hide something from me, at least not something that important. I just..." she let out a small sigh as she looked away once more. "I just don't know where we're going from here."

"I get it," she nodded as her gaze fell on her lap and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat at some point while she had been listening to Suki. "I don't deserve your forgiveness."

For a while, the only sound in the room was their breathing and in her desperation to find something else to occupy herself with, Homura could hear everything happening outside of her room's walls; Kiyi's laugh from the gardens, Sokka's faint but still terrible singing next room, the clinging of the armour of a few guards as they passed by her room. When Suki spoke up again, her voice seemed extremely loud compared to the silence she had been hearing.

"I can't hide something like this from Sokka." Homura's head snapped up but Suki still refused to look her way. "It feels as if I'm betraying his trust. I'll tell him when we're far away from here in a place he won't be able to reach you."

She nodded. "I understand. Thank you for letting me stay here for a while longer."

Suki only hummed her response before standing up and without a word, she walked away.

Dinner that evening felt unusually tense for Homura, even though most of her friends conversed among each other easily. Even Ursa and her family had come to dine with them and Kiyi's voice was heard for a good amount of time. She spoke to Zuko animatedly and Homura thought he was only half listening to what she was saying even though he was paying attention, but she didn't say a word about it. It wasn't until they had finished with their dinner that Aang spoke up.