An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 24: To Catch a Freedom Fighter

"Jet stop!" Zuko shouted as the freedom fighter darted away through the evening crowd of Ba Sing Se's middle ring.

He took off after the outlaw, weaving his way through the crowd and avoiding several collisions with passersby.

Aang was injured and Sokka stayed with him until help could arrive. Toph had burrowed underground to try and cut him off, which left Zuko to chase after Jet through the crowded streets, streets the freedom fighter knew far better than he did.

He struggled to keep sight of him, as Jet used back alleys and gaps in fencing to evade him. He hoped Toph was having better luck keeping up with him than he was.

He shot a few blasts of fire towards the freedom fighter, but he took a sharp turn down another alleyway to avoid them. Zuko sped up and used a downspout to help him change directions without losing momentum.

A large wall of rock shot up from the ground in front of Jet, blocking his escape. He turned to face Zuko and pulled out his twin swords. He charged towards him with both swords trailing at his sides.

With his superior agility he got two swings of his swords at the Fire Lord before Zuko countered with a sustained blast of fire, forcing his opponent back towards the dead end.

Toph shot up from the ground beneath him, but before she could encase his feet in stone he leapt up and out of her sight. In a split second Zuko analyzed his opponent and shot two quick balls of fire towards him. The first one missed but the second one struck him on the arm, forcing him to grab onto his arm in pain rather than strike at Toph.

The freedom fighter fell to the ground and a block of stone encased him thanks to Toph. He struggled to no avail, there was no getting out of solid rock unless you were an earth bender.

"It's over stinkball," Toph said triumphantly, mocking the ex-freedom fighter. She wrapped metal around his wrists to restrain him before releasing him from his stone prison.

"You took everything from me," Jet spat at Zuko. "I wanted to take everything away from you, including the people you care about!"

"Unfortunately for you," Zuko shot back, "the people I care about are some of the strongest people in the world."

"You tell him sparky!" Toph exclaimed. They walked back to where Aang had been stabbed by Jet and found him being tended to by healers.

"You caught him," Aang said weakly. He tried to smile but winced in pain and laid back down on the pavement.

"Yeah, we kicked his butt too," Toph added to which Jet grumbled in response.

"Come on twinkletoes, we need to get you back to the upper ring so the healers can tend to you in a more sterile environment," Toph said, helping Aang up and allowing him to put his arm around her shoulder for support.

"Not bad if I do say so myself," Sokka said and smiled. Zuko blushed a little and turned away subtlety to hide it. He shouldn't be feeling this way about Sokka, they were friends and he had come to realize that friends don't feel the things he was feeling.

--

They got Aang back to the house him and Toph had been using as their home base and allowed the healers to do their work. Toph said she was going to go have a chat with Jet and get him to publicly admit he had deceived his followers the whole time. Zuko actually felt bad for the guy. Anyone who got on Toph's bad side was in for a world of hurt.

Sokka and Zuko were now left alone with more free time than they had had in months. The house was so quiet with Aang sleeping and no one else there. Zuko realized how much he liked not having any servants around asking him if he needed anything, no guards to follow him, only him and his friends.