Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Lucidus ❯ Peaches ( Chapter 3 )

Consider yourselves lucky. I wasn't going to update anything this week, but I realized this hasn't been updated in forever, so, here you go. Be thankful!

Title change. I like it more.

 

Lucidus

Chapter Three: Peaches

 

Their teeth were still stained from the pomegranate seeds.

 

She took a moment before they entered the town to choose a nice large boulder. They were still in Earth Kingdom territory, and there were many afoot.

 

He couldn't help but smile as she pronounced the proper preaching rock and sat down on it.

 

“You go ahead,” she said, waving a hand at him, “I've got no money anyway.”

 

Neither did he. So he sat down beside her, cringing as she belted out a tune.

 

“Rising, rising is the moon,
Large & round, large & round, round round one,
Plate-like full moon will rise soon.”

 

He shook his head at her. For some odd reason, his plan to ditch her had lost its focus. Instead he stayed intrigued, because her quirky attitude held no promise of what was to happen next.

 

Two travelers paused to see the singing girl, an odd look upon their faces. Her voice was soft and sweet, and they decided to stop for a minute to hear the girl some more.

 

He cast them dark glances, but kept his face hidden, because they wore white robes, dark skin oddly illuminated beneath shade of their straw hats. Dark purple stripes down the chest, a sign of importance.

 

It only takes a few minutes for a crowd to form.

 

She takes pride in making a scene. She starts off with the sun, speaking of its brilliance. He remembers old stories from long ago… The fire is lit with the sun, while the moon guides the way for water.

 

He glances at her, and he finds himself staring at a girl who has far more knowledge than she should. She looks to be his age, maybe a year younger, the same age as his sister…

 

He suddenly stands, and not too soon. His eye catches more soldiers moving their way, and he passes a glance to Katara.

 

But she's not paying attention, because her eyes have gone dark. Her hands clench, nails biting into skin as she bites her lips. There's something wrong, he thinks as her body tightens and begins to shake. For a moment it seems that her eyes have gone blind as she stares up, eyes widening as if they're going to pop out. The entire crowd sucks in a breath, and quickly he grabs her arm. She blinks quickly and stumbles backwards, almost like a board. He doesn't quite catch her but yanks her back so that she becomes loose again, almost too loose. She takes in a breath when he hadn't realized she wasn't breathing then throws it back out again with a monstrous cough. Her insides are burning but he pulls her along, and she just shakes in his arms, beginning to feel like a helpless child.

 

He throws back a glance, just to be sure, and he's relieved to see no one is following. Her coughing has turned to retching, but he doesn't stop until they are out of sight and then he lets go, letting her rest.

 

It only takes a few minutes for the convulsions to stop, and she doesn't look up at him.

 

“You're sick?” he asks aloud, the sound almost empty.

 

“No,” she bites quickly. “I just…”

 

Her voice dies, because she can't think up a proper excuse.

 

“What's wrong?” He doesn't know why he even cares that much. He should've just taken the chance to leave her, but she doesn't seem like the person who should be left by themselves.

 

“Nothing. Leave it alone.”

 

Of course he doesn't want to, but he doesn't think he has a choice. So there is a silent agreement right then and there: to treat it as if it doesn't exist.

 

---

 

“We're headed south?” she asks quite suddenly.

 

He's taken to leading, because she seems meeker now.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why?”

 

He pauses. “Because I need to meet someone.”

 

“You said you didn't know where you were going.”

 

There's accusation in her tone. He ignores it.

 

“I don't. I know where I need to be.”

 

She frowns, stumbling over the rocks. Her balance is off, he decides, but why?

 

“I've already traveled this way through the Earth Kingdoms,” she says. “If you need a guide.”

 

He shakes his head at her, saying nothing. She's back to the self he'd met, whether that's her old self or an entirely new one. He hadn't known her long enough to tell the difference.

 

“I can't stop you from stalking me, can I?” he responds.

 

She pauses, giving a pout, then something comes to mind, and she laughs.

 

“Was that a joke?”

 

He ignores her.

 

“You should try being funny more often. It suits you more than your usual mood.”

 

His usual mood? Broody and grumpy. He is allowed that much, isn't he?

 

She doesn't know his usual mood anymore than he knows her, but they know enough of each other's demeanors to notice when something was off.

 

And something is off about her.

 

She is too quiet.

 

Does her boisterousness come with her sickness?

 

No, she doesn't seem the type to be held back by any of that.

 

Suddenly, quite suddenly and he nearly trips, she grabs his arm and points. He falls backwards and she lets go so she doesn't fall herself.

 

“Look!” she cries and turns to him, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you on the ground?”

 

He growls and considers burning her to a crisp right there. But she's already running ahead and scurrying up a tree to catch whatever she'd seen.

 

She's more animal, he thinks, than human. And it's scary, almost.

 

He wonders what possibly possessed him to stay near her.

 

(What he forgets, of course, is that he is a teenage boy. He is not the only one.)

 

He hopes she falls out of the tree again and breaks her neck.

 

Instead she climbs out with a laugh, holding a prize in her hands.

 

It's alive, whatever she's found. She holds it out to him like a child who'd found a stray, and it stares up at him curiously as it continues to eat, as that's what it was doing when she disturbed it.

 

(You're not the only thing she disturbs, he thought silently to the animal.)

 

He's not quite sure what it is.

 

“It's ugly,” he says.

 

She sticks her tongue out at him childishly. “It's a lemur. And you're no better looking.”

 

He reminds himself that the smell of burning flesh was not a pleasant one, and hard to wash out of one's clothes.

 

“He was eating a bunch of peaches up there. I'm hungry. Let's stop.”

 

“You can stop,” he answers.

 

The lemur takes part of its peach and stuffs it in his face.

 

(He might be hungry too. What does lemur taste like?)

 

She just laughs and lets it go. It climbs back up into the tree, and she stands beneath it. Peaches drop into her hand. It's already dusk and he figures he might as well stop for the night. As long as the lemur doesn't bother him too much.

 

---

 

She has a night ritual he hadn't noticed before.

 

She takes a long strip of cloth from her bag and ties it around her mouth. He doesn't ask, but she notices him watching and unties it a moment to answer.

 

“I have nightmares.”

 

There was something they had in common.

 

He doesn't think much about it, until the lemur wakes him up in the middle of the night by throwing a peach at him. He gets ready to throw a fireball at it, but he stops at the sight of Katara on the ground, shaking and shuddering. Her words are muffled but they sound painful. Carefully, because he's almost afraid to wake her, he places his hands on her shoulders. He remembered when he was little and sick with fever, his mother would touch his forehead, and a sense of calm would run through him.

 

But he's not his mother, and he always thought it was better to sweat it out.

 

Still, he presses his palm against her forehead. She's cold, like death. But she stops shivering at his touch, and she gives a sigh of calm.

 

He's not like his father either.

 

Notes:

The appearance of Momo brings the appearance of someone else we know… But only shortly. He doesn't get a full view for a while.

I can only laugh now, that the sweet old man that is Zuko's uncle was the evil demon from Samurai Jack.

What the hell is wrong with Mr. T? And am I the only one bothered by Burger King commercials?

I got the best review for this story. “Lust-inducing,” was it? ::Bows:: I honored by that comment. Leave more.

And does anyone remember Reboot? That was awesome.