TWENTY-EIGHT

2K 105 10
                                    

The training grounds were almost empty save for the woman with her hair set in a braid that was balancing on one hand, her whole body raised and tense. She had been in this position for minutes, perhaps even hours, but he had come out and seen her just now. She wasn't the one he had been hoping he would see this morning.

Zuko had come out of the palace to the training grounds to train and find Homura as last evening she had claimed she was tired from her fight with her mother and had excused herself for the night. He had also realised last night just who Chiaki's husband had been. Homura's father was Admiral Zhao and even though he realised her fear and hesitation to tell him, a part of him wished she could have trusted him with that. He needed to talk to her. Now, though, she wasn't in the training grounds and part of him started to worry. Without waiting a second more, he headed over to the woman standing upside down.

"Good morning, Ty Lee. Have you seen Homura?"

Ty Lee looked up, a wide smile forming on her lips despite her unorthodox position. "Zuko, hi! I haven't seen her, maybe she's finished training already?"

He nodded to himself, "I'll check in her room."

"Bye Zuko!"

He waved at her briefly as he walked away, heading straight to her room. It didn't take him long to get there, since he didn't meet anyone on his way, and when he reached her room, he knocked on the door a few times. As he didn't receive an answer, he slowly opened the door and peered inside.

"Homura?"

He got in the room, leaving the door slightly open behind him. Her sword wasn't in its usual place beside her bed but everything else was the way she usually left it. Still, there were no signs of her being in the room. He looked around, his eyes falling on the piece of parchment left on her bed. He walked over and raised it. The moment he noticed the letter was addressed to him, he started reading. It took him a few minutes to realise what had happened, but when he did, he rushed out of the room, the letter at hand. He had just gotten in the gardens when he almost crashed on Mai.

"Zuko," she chastised, prepared to scold him for almost running around the palace when she took in his expression. At first, she didn't realise what was going on. Then, her eyes fell on the letter in his hand and she understood.

"She left," he exclaimed as he turned to face her, and it almost pained her to see him so upset. "Homura left!"

Mai's expression didn't change and slowly, his face fell. He took a step back. "You knew."

"I saw her leaving, yes," she nodded as Zuko let out a huff of disbelief. "She needed to go. So I left her."

"Yeah, I guessed so," he pursed his lips as he handed her over the letter and walked away, quickly heading to the back of the palace. Mai followed after him at once.

"Zuko, what are you doing?"

"I'm going after her," he called out over his shoulder, "you're in my position for as long as I'm gone, get Ty Lee to help you in any way you wish, you're the Fire Lord for a while."

"You can't just leave like that, Zuko, you've got responsibilities," she pointed out even though he didn't stop. "For once in your life, think before taking such a decision!"

He didn't listen to her as they finally got to the back of the palace. A war balloon was ready to set sail there, and he didn't waste a moment to untie it from the ground as he got up and started sending fire to the engine. The balloon started to fill with hot air as Mai watched from a safe distance away, evidently unimpressed. In the end, she let out a small sigh.

"Zuko, wait for a few minutes!"

Against his better judgement, he stopped as he turned to face her, only to see her walking away. He was confused but still, he waited. It didn't take Mai long to return, this time with a pile of clothes and his dual swords along with a pouch of money. Zuko could do nothing but watch with wide eyes as she got close to the war balloon and handed him the supplies.

Flameheart | ZukoWhere stories live. Discover now