You & I

"That's Perfect"

Y/N's POV
I just... I just bent their blood. In broad daylight... I'm a monster.

Iroh pulled me up from the ground, I was trembling and couldn't think straight. He walked with me to the side of the boat, guiding me into a dingy before climbing in after me and lowering it onto the water.

He started to row us away from the ship, looking around him for any sign of land, he opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly stopped himself before continuing to row.

I tried to steady my breathing before asking him,

"What were you gonna say?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Iroh, please."

"I was just gonna ask if you could, you know..."

He twirled his finger around.

"Oh, y-yeah, sure."

I jumped out of the boat and into the ocean, creating a massive whirl of water holding me high in the air, I looked around, squinting my eyes before returning back to the dingy, as I bent the water from my hair and clothes I told Iroh that there seemed to be an island north east of our location.

We sat in silence for a while as Iroh rowed the boat. Then I decided to swallow my fear and just ask,

"Iroh, do you hate me now?"

"Why would I hate you?"

"Because I- I'm a monster, I blood bent those people and-"

"Y/N, you saved my life. You're not a monster, you're a hero."

"But I- I-"

He stopped rowing and pulled my hands into his, he bent down and looked me in my eyes and gently said,

"Y/N, you are kind and loving and beautiful inside and out, if I wasn't tied up when they hurt you, when she put her sword to your throat, I would've sent lightning through every limb in her body, and if it were the other way around, if I were the water bender, I would've snapped their necks back there, but you showed mercy, you're the reason that we're still alive. You're strong. Being a blood bender doesn't make you a monster, do you think Katara is a monster?"

I shook my head.

"Well she can blood bend. And like her, you're a hero, okay?"

I sniffled and plastered a smile on my face,

"Thanks, Iroh. You must be tired, let me move the boat."

I snatched the oars out of his hands and climbed over him to his end of the dingy, I then held my hands over the edge of the boat and shot the boat in the direction we were headed at rapid speed. He yelled over the sound of the water splashing upwards and against the boat,

"Why didn't you just do that before!?"

"I dunno, genius, why didn't you just give us a little rocket boost?"

"In my defence, you're a water bender"

I laughed and turned back to the direction I was concentrating my bending, after a few minutes, we arrived on the shore. Iroh looked around before declaring,

"It's getting dark, we should set up camp and look for help in the morning."

I nodded and started searching the island for shelter,

"Hey Iroh, there's a small cave there, near the coast line!"

We ran into the cave and examined it, it seemed uninhabited, there were no signs of dangerous wild life inside, and it was big enough for two people, but small enough that it might help us contain our body heat.

We crawled into the cave, it was only just tall enough for us to stand up in; Iroh leaned against the cave wall before patting beside him for me to sit next to him.

I sat, but stared at the ground, tracing the dirt with my fingers, trying to distract myself from the disgust and fear circling around my mind. But it didn't go away, I was still a monster, I still used my bending in a horrible way that ended up hurting people.

My trail of thoughts was interrupted when Iroh said,

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Are you going to tell anyone what I did?"

"What?"

"What I did, blood bending, it's... it's illegal... I'll go to prison for the rest of my life... I just, I-I..."

He rubbed my back again,

"Hey, hey, it's fine, I won't tell anyone... it'll stay between us. I promise."

I smiled at him before I continued tracing the dirt with my finger. I did a really bad thing, and what's worse is that I didn't even mean to, I just was overwhelmed with fear and anger, I didn't want to lose him, then it just happened. There wasn't a full moon, I didn't have to think about it, I just suddenly felt the rush of power, I felt myself holding all of the blood in their veins and then I dropped them, and everything after that was a blur, Iroh and I ended up on a dingy and now we're huddled in the back of a tiny cave and I don't even know where we are. I don't even know how long we were knocked out for... I felt tears prick my eyeballs and start to roll down my face.

"I never should've left home..."

Although I whispered that, I guess Iroh heard me because his eyes widened before he looked away from me before mumbling,

"I'm so sorry, Y/N..."

"No, no don't apologise, I didn't mean that..."

"It's fine, really, I know you're hurting, and if you didn't leave with me, you wouldn't be sitting in a tiny cave in the middle of nowhere crying."

I leaned my head back onto the cave wall and took a deep breath,

"Not exactly, but I'd probably be married to some random guy and I'd miserable... you saved me from that. If I could turn back the hands of time, I'd still leave with you, over and over again."

He was facing the ground, angry at himself, but when I said that, I saw a smile form on his lips.

I leaned my head against his shoulder,

"Is that okay?"

He rested his head on top of mine and replied,

"That's perfect."