Burn Me *Prince Zuko Fanfiction*

Lake Laogai

My lips still burned with desire as I made my way back to the upper ring of Ba Sing Se. I promised to keep Zuko's secret if he promised to keep mine. For some reason, I trusted him, I believed he would not come after us. I dropped off the tea to the lady at the shop. By the time I returned to the house, it was extremely late. The cobblestone steps echoed off the empty street as I approached the door. A light breeze kissed my skin and I shivered. I thought back to the warmth I felt when I was with Zuko, and a lazy smile crossed my face. Reaching for the ornate handle of the door, I wrapped my fingers around the cool metal.

"Where have you been?" A voice asked from the darkness.

"Oh geez – " I jumped, placing my hand over my heart, and turned to face Sokka. He leaned casually against the pillar along the front porch. "Sokka... you scared me."

"Sorry," he muttered and pushed himself, so he was leaning his back on the pillar. "Where were you?"

"I was just... walking around Ba Sing Se." I gestured to the streets.

"See, I find that hard to believe because we looked around the entire upper ring for you and none of us could find you."

"Maybe that's because I went to the lower ring," I shrugged.

"The lower ring?!" Sokka hollered.

"Would you keep your voice down?" I hushed him. "Geez, do none of you understand that we are being watched."

"Why would you go to the lower ring? Without someone with you?" Sokka gripped my arms and stared into my face.

"I'm a big girl, Sokka. Besides," I gently pulled his arms away from me. "I had fun. The people down there, yeah... they're rough but they had people laughing and smiling. They were playing music in the streets. It was... refreshing."

"Well... fine. As long as nothing bad happened and you're safe... I guess it's fine." Sokka muttered.

I smiled at my brother and we both slipped inside. Bidding Sokka goodnight, I departed to my shared room with Katara, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. Sliding into bed, I fell asleep with thoughts of Zuko's lips on mine.

I woke the next morning with a smile on my face. I practically sprang out of bed and bounded into the shared living space of the house. Skipping around the room, I cheered a good morning to the group and grabbed a fresh apple out of the bowl.

"You seem happy this morning..." Sokka grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, trying to concentrate on the drawing he was creating.

"Yeah, what crawled into your bed and bit you," Toph lounged back in her chair.

"Can't I just be happy?" I asked with a mouth full of fruit.

"Yeah, it's just weird... you've been moody ever since we got here and suddenly-"

"- you're skipping in the room like a totally different person," Toph interjected, cutting Sokka off.

"Toph's right. What happened to you? Did something spike your inner joy after going to the lower ring?" Sokka stuck his tongue out adding details to his drawing.

"You went to the lower ring?" Katara asked as she and Aang bounded into the room from the street.

"Yes," I shot a wide-eyed look at Sokka, "I did."

"Anything interesting happen?" Katara hummed with a suspicious glance.

"Nope!"

"Liar," Toph muttered, I turned and whipped my half-eaten apple at the girl.

She caught it easily in her hand and smirked at me before taking a bite herself.

"Okay..." Aang looked between me and Toph. "Anyway-"