Avatar the last air bender x slightly autistic!reader

Chapter 3

"(Y/n), what's wrong?" Ti Lee said while attempting to comfort you.

You let out some not so quiet sobs, sucking in snot through your nose.

You were only 6 at the time, Zuko being 8, when you were left at the palace to attend the Royal Fire academy, seeing that your home was a great distance from the city, too far to attend a great school.

Today, your mother was supposed to visit you early in the morning, but it was noon now, and this greatly upset you.

"Mom's not h-here-" you could only say before a sob racked your voice. You were sitting behind a bush, trying to hide your anguish from Mai, Zuko, Azulai, and Ty Lee, but failing when Ty Lee spotted you. Being older than you, Ty Lee took this as an opportunity to finally be an older sister to you and comforted you.

You heard grass shifting and getting louder, indicating that someone was approaching you two. The bush shifted to the side, revealing Mai. The girl stared at you two before coming closer and sitting beside you.

"What's wrong? Why is (Y/n) crying?" Mai asked, not reacting to the sound of the bush shifting behind her.

Azulai was the first to walk into the bush, morbid curiousity ever so present on his face while his older brother, Zuko, looked in at the three of you, confused.

"She's sad that her mom isn't coming..." Ty Lee said, rubbing soft circles on your back.

"Maybe she's just late?" Zuko suggested in a hopeful tone that would hopefully calm you down.

"Stop crying, so what your mommy doesn't love you? You don't need her anyway." Azulai said while rolling his eyes.

This did not make you feel better at all.

Your sobbing got worse and you started pulling at your hair. Ty Lee almost yelled at the sudden aggression but hugged you tightly, trying to shush you.

"Azulai!" Mai and Zuko both angrily said at the same time.

Azulai held his hands up in mock surrender.

"What? I'm telling the truth, aren't I?" He cocked his hip and crossed his arms.

Zuko was about to tackle him but held back.

"G-go away!" You yelled and went back to sobbing into Ty Lee's chest.

Azulai raised an eyebrow and felt glares from all of the kids, minus you, burning into his form before a sigh left his lips. He dropped his arms and walked towards you before placing his hand on your back in a mockingly soothing manner.

"There there, I was only kidding." Azulai said, voice not very sincere, not that you could tell.

Zuko gave him the stink eye but said nothing when he noticed that your sobs quieted a bit.

You were awoken with a jolt, the whole room creaking and rumbling. You almost felt nausea fill the pit of your stomach as the ocean swayed the boat.

What sounded like a crash outside woke you up completely and you could hear faint yelling.

It wasn't long before you found yourself outside, dazed by the dark clouds and heavy rain. You shrieked when lightning struck uncle Iroh, who stood in front of you. He redirected the sharp and merciless light into the angry sea, leaving him mostly unharmed save for a few burns and sizzling beard.

"Miss (L/n), it's not safe for you out here!" One of the men went to grab you by the arm but missed when the boat swayed, causing you both to slide towards the edge of the boat.

The man was about to slide off the ship through a gaping hole on the fencing area when you instinctively shot forward with your bending and wrapped your arms around the man's torso, forcing both of you to safety.

Luckily for you, nobody saw you airbend, including the man you saved, as they were too focused on not getting tossed off the ship. You and the man clutched each other when the ship swayed harshly again.

You could hear shouting above you and you looked up to see Zuko catching a man in the nick of time while holding onto the latter. He lowered the man into one of his crew-mate's arm and exchanged a look with him before climbing down the later.

Once the two of them finally stepped onto the deck, a large figure appeared above the waves, growling a familiar sound.

"The Avatar!" Zuko yelled in surprise.

"What shall we do sir?" The man next to him asked.

Zuko seemed to hesitate, watching the sky bison before forcing his fists down.

"Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety." He said.

"We must head directly into the eye of the storm." Iroh stated and pointed to what appeared to be a small beam of light.

The men around you started to run around, preparing the ship to sail. Zuko turned to his uncle and was about to say something before catching sight of a familiar figure in his peripheral.

"(Y/n)!?" He shouted and rushed over to you and pulled you roughly out of the other man's arms.

"What are you doing!? Why are you out here!?" Zuko yelled.

"Prince Zuko, she saved my life-" the man tried to soothe the prince's rage, which did work somewhat. Zuko simply looked at him before pulling you towards the quarters while scolding you.

"Look at you, you're all wet! This fabric will shrink!" Zuko scolded you and clicked his tongue at how soaked you were. He brought you to your room and opened the door, glaring at the still damaged decor before turning to you.

"Go into your room and change. And stay in there. I'll come get you when this is over." He commanded.

And with that, he left you. You didn't complain though, you hated the feeling of the wet fabric and cold it was giving you.

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This was pretty short... anyways, I'm gonna do some flashbacks to the past in some chapters.

I know, not fun, but it is essential as it helps to establish what relationships you have, or in some cases, had.

As I have said in the author note, I'm gonna skip some parts or entire episodes, so just a fair warning.

I can't wait to get to present day Azulai (male Azula)...