Bad Moon Rising | Book 4

9: Crossing Lines

Art: Artist Not Found

Their day started with another early wake-up call, although this one was far more innocent—Momo having jumped across half of the sleeping bags in an attempt to chase a scavenging elephant-rat away. The rest of the morning was fairly calm. Being the last up for Azula watching duty, Katara had already been prepared to set up breakfast once everyone was awake.

Both Kida and Zuko wore matching dark circles under their eyes. Neither had gotten much sleep as they had remained awake well into the dark hours of the morning. Once Zuko had calmed down, the pair sat in silence for longer than either had realized as both tried to figure out how they were going to fix their problems.

Eventually, they decided they needed to sleep if they expected their brains to work out a solution. They woke Katara to take their place then finally went to bed—or maybe it would be more accurate to say that they took a nap.

Katara had watched through slowly waking eyes as the pair, whom she still thought was a couple, laid down side-by-side and fell asleep with their legs and arms tangled together. The young waterbender had smiled fondly at the image, hoping one day she could find that much peace in sleeping beside the person she loved.

Nothing had changed very much when everyone woke up. Kida and Zuko kept close together. However, only Azula seemed to pick up on the small gestures between them. Every time Aang attempted to talk Zuko out of continuing the search, Kida wouldn't say anything. Instead, she would touch his shoulder or hand to keep him calm. Maybe Azula's speculations had been wrong about them.

She had begun to think they had broken up. Neither had previously been acting quite as affectionate as she had expected them to but, then again, neither were very affectionate people. Azula had witnessed Zuko's attempts with Mai and assumed that he would act the same with every girlfriend. Maybe they didn't need weekly dates and gifts, though—it seemed like they knew each other's minds well enough not to. Azula was beginning to think they were a more functional couple than she had previously given them credit for.

Before long, they all boarded Appa and made the short trip to Forgetful Valley. The closer they got, the less Kida could focus on Zuko. Her concentration kept fading in and out. After a steady five minutes of struggling, she began to get aggravated with her inability to clarify a single thought.

"Are you okay?" Zuko's voice was distant in her ear but she forced herself to focus on it.

She reached out, blindly grabbing his arm. The physical connection was enough to center her and soon she was back and coherent.

"Just... just tired, I think," she mumbled, using her free hand to rub her temple.

Zuko studied her face. She definitely looked tired but he knew that he did too and he didn't feel as though he was going to pass out. He glanced around to see if anyone else looked as bad, but none of them seemed to have even noticed her dizzy spell.

For a brief second, he considered postponing the search but they were so close. This was the last place they were going to check, and if they came up empty-handed, then they'd go home immediately. Maybe if she just relaxed for a bit, she'd be able to get through it.