Blazing: An Avatar AU

Chapter Seventy-Seven

I stared at the sign which read "Welcome to Forgetful Valley". It was right in front of this huge forest.

      "So this must be it," Aang said, "Forgetful Valley!"

       I yawned, "What gave it away? The si-"

       "How do you know?" Sokka cut me off, turning to Aang, "Are you detecting something with your special Avatar powers?"

       "No," Aang shook his head, "It says so on the sign," he pointed to the sign, which was inches away from where Sokka was standing.

       "Oh," Sokka frowned.

       I laughed, "You were literally right next to the sign," I slapped his back, "Nice try, cuz."

       "(Y/N)!" Sokka whined.

Katara let out a small laugh before turning to the group, "So where do we go from here?"

       "I'm not sure," Zuko looked into the valley, "There's not even a path."

       I put a hand on Zuko's arm, "We'll figure something out. Maybe we can-"

       "Come on, Zuzu," Azula interrupted, "For a true firebender, there's always a path!" Azula proceeded to firebend at the forest.

       "Are you crazy?" I yelled at Azula, turning away from her to help Zuko and Aang put out the flames. 

As much as firebending at a forest with spiritual ties was a terrible idea, I had to hand it to her, she did create a path for us. Once the fires were out, and Katara and Sokka were arguing with Azula, I turned to Zuko, "Hey," I lightly touched his shoulder, causing him to turn around and face me, "We're going to find out about your mom, okay? I promise."

       Zuko shook his head, "I don't- What if all this is for nothing? What if we never-"

I reached out and took his face in my hands. On contact, I felt Zuko's body relax and his eyes gazed into mine, the gold illuminating in the sunlight. He let out a breath, and his eyes softened slightly.

      "Thank you."

      I moved my thumb lightly over his cheek, "I didn't do anything, Zuko."

       "No," he leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead, "You did," he laid his head on my shoulder, "I love you," he breathed into my shoulder.

       "I love you too," I glanced at Azula, who was still arguing with Sokka and Katara, while tugging softly at Zuko's hair.

       Suddenly, Aang took his face in his hands, "Quiet, guys!"

Azula, Sokka, and Katara, stopped arguing and turned their heads to Aang. I felt Zuko sigh into my shoulder, before reluctantly stand straight up, turning to Aang as well.

       "I am detecting something with my special Avatar powers!" Aang continued, "It's kinda making me wanna go..." he removed his hands from his face, and turned completely to us. His face was contorted into an odd frown and one of his eyes were squinted, while the other one was wide. The sudden contortion of his face caused me to jump in surprise, "...like this," Aang finished.

      I steadied my breathing, "You scared the shit out of me!"

Zuko put a hand on my shoulder and I noticed him stifling a laugh.

       "Sweetie, not with the faces again!" Katara exclaimed.

Sokka looked around the forest, "No, no. I think Aang is onto something! If you look carefully, there are actually faces all over the place!" He walked over to a tree, which had leaves that seemed to mimic a different face. Sokka copied the face on the leaves, contorting his face into something I didn't think was possible, "Check out this leaf!"