ᴀ ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴘᴀꜱꜱɪᴏɴ | ᴢᴜᴋᴏ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ | ᴀᴠᴀᴛᴀʀ: ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴀɪʀʙᴇɴᴅᴇʀ

A Storm

The next day was the clearest day I've ever seen, not a single cloud in sight. It was nice and warm too, perfect day for Fire Bending.

"Its going to storm" Iroh says

"Uncle, there isn't a cloud in sight, its not going to storm" Zuko says as he finishes his training

"I can feel one coming" Iroh says, shrugging.

"Iroh, it is a clear sky, its pretty unlikely a storm will come" I say, Zuko was right, not a single cloud was in sight.

I was wrong and Iroh was right, so very right.

A storm did come and it came out of the blue. I was on the top deck in the open when the first lightening bolt hit, it was close to the ship but we didn't get hit. I heard yelling from the deck below and I looked down to see a man hanging from a bar, barely hanging on.

It was literally sunshine two seconds ago and now it was bucketing down rain and thunder and lightening.

In a state of panic, I rushed over to the man and carefully made my way to him helping him get back on steady ground. Then the ship was hit again, this time with lightening. The ship rocked back and forth, knocking me off my feet and I fell in the air and hung down from the bar, two down below his one.

"ow" I say as I grabbed the bar, it defiantly pulled a muscle.

The rain wasn't helping at all, it was hitting my face with an annoying force and was causing my hand to slip. I held on with all my might, even with two hands it wasn't helping. I heard yells from below and looked down. Bad idea. It was a long way down to the bottom deck; I would defiantly break something.

Zuko immediately ran for the ladder, followed by the lieutenant. The rain kept on splashing in my face, making it hard to see. My grasp on the bar was loosening and I was slowly slipping down. At one point my grip on the bar let out on me and I began to fall, but I quickly grabbed onto the floorboard.

The grip on the floorboard didn't last long, I was slipping much faster, and the rain was even hitting my body harder. The ship swaying from side to side was a great thing either.

My grip on the floorboard fell and I started to fall to the ground, I saw a hand suddenly stick out and I grabbed onto it, stopping my fall. I didn't let go of the thing holding me. It was warm and I wasn't falling to my death anymore. I looked to who I had held onto and it was Zuko, he uncased me in his chest and was beginning to go down the ladder, careful not to let me fall.

We reached the ground level, but i still didn't let go of Zuko, he sorta just stood there, in the rain, unsure of what to do. He wasn't holding me like a baby anymore, I was standing but I still gripped onto his shirt and faced his chest.

I was afraid if I let go, I would fall again, you could say it was the fear of heights, coming back to bite my ass.

I was then moving again, but I didn't open my eyes to see where I was going. I stopped raining from where we were, we must have been in the ship now. I heard doors open and close, but I never opened my eyes.

The sound of other people's footsteps began to disappear, it was just my feet and Zuko's feet. When the feet of other people disappeared, I felt an arm wrapped around my back, pulling me in a hug, but I was still moving.

I heard a door open, then close. I felt two hands lightly push me back and hold my shoulders reassuringly.

"Naoki, its okay, you don't have anything to fear now" A soft Zuko voice said.

My hands began to tremble as I slowly opened my eyes, I saw that I was currently sitting in Zuko's room, with Zuko right next to me, holding me safe.

Let go of Zuko's shirt and arm and I realized how much of a death grip I had on him, I had made small cuts in his shirt from my nails. His skin was even whiter when I let go of his arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been that scared" I say, shyly.

"Its fine" Zuko says, waving it away. "...do you have a fear of heights or something?"

"Yes...sorry" I say, looking down and fiddling with my fingers.

"You don't need to apologies" Zuko says, lying back on his bed.

"Sorry" I say

"I said you don't need to apologies" Zuko says again, sitting up on his elbows.

"Sorr-" I was silenced by Zuko's hand over my mouth.

"How about you just stop saying sorry" Zuko says as he lowers his hand.

"Okay...." I say, unsure of what to do now

Zuko was just lying down on his bed, looking relaxed. I was sitting on the very edge of his bed, fiddling with my fingers.

"Its getting late, you should get some rest" Zuko says out of the blue.

"Oh, um...okay" I say, sitting up and starting to walk out the door.

Zuko then sits up and looks at me confused.

"Where are you going?" He asks

"To my...room?" I say

"I said you should get some rest, come on" Zuko gesture for me to lie next to him.

I feel the blush rise to my cheeks a I lie next to him, the weird thing wasn't lying next to him it was the fact that it felt right, that I felt like I wanted to lie here forever and not give a damn about the world.

I was lying next to Zuko, starting to drift off to sleep when I felt my body move involuntary, I opened my eyes to find Zuko's arm wrapped around my waist in a protective manner and my back facing his bare chest....his bare chest, when the hell did he take his shirt off?

Normally, I would have freaked out and ran back to my room, but I was too tired to deal with this so I slept on, letting it all happen. I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy, but there was another feeling I couldn't quite understand what it was or why it was here.

A/N

This is a sHiTTy chapter, i know...k, great, you may read on!