The Fire Within - an atla fanfic (Zuko x OC)

Nothing Really Matters

After my talk with Azula, I walked through the palace, pleased that I finally seemed to remember the layout of the place. Everyone was staying here until Zuko's coronation, so I wasn't surprised to see Sokka and Aang running through the hallway like children. It was good to see they still had their occasional juvenile behavior after everything.

"Hey Ashley," Sokka said, stopping short next to me. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go check on Gaku." I stated, rubbing my eyes a bit.

"Are you tired? You should get some sleep before tomorrow." Aang commented.

"Yeah, I didn't get any sleep last night." I complained. Sokka immediately sent a snicker my way. Aang seemed confused on why. I rolled my eyes slightly and put a hand on my hip. "Shut it, Sokka. I was just busy catching up with Zuko."

"Alright, sure." Sokka said with his hands up.

"Anyway, what are you guys doing?"

"We are gonna try to find Sokka's space sword and boomerang. Toph thinks if we go near the ground where it was dropped she can sense where they are." Aang explained.

"Good luck with that, I hope you find it." I said before dipping my head slightly and walking off. I peered into Gaku's room we had put him in. It was a guest room, but nonetheless big. I narrowed my eyes when I saw no sign of him. I knew I shouldn't have left him alone. I had to make sure he wasn't stolen.

I rolled up my sleeves anxiously and paced into my room, he wasn't there either. The last place he could've gone by himself was the garden. I raced to the garden and sighed in relief as Katara glanced over at me, Gaku, sitting beside her. I composed myself and let out a tiny breath as I walked over to them. "Hey Katara." I spoke lightly as I sat on the other side of Gaku.

Katara shook her head slightly. "Where were you? You can't leave him all alone like that."

I looked at the sky in annoyance. "He can look after himself for an hour, Katara."

She scoffed. "How old is he?"

I glanced down at Gaku, who was running his hands in the pond water. "Uh... five." I said, not the most confidently.

"You don't know how old he is?" Katara said in shock, "he's your brother!"

I gave Gaku a tiny pat on the head. "Half-brother. And cut me some slack, I've known him a solid month and a half."

Gaku looked up at me and pouted. "I'm turning 5 in July."

"So he's four. I stayed home alone all the time at four." I said with my arms crossed.

I could tell Katara had to stop herself from bickering with me. "Is he gonna stay here when you leave?"

Gaku looked up at with curiosity. "You're leaving?"

I gave him a tiny nod and then looked up at Katara in frustration. "I was gonna talk to him about that with Zuko."

"Well if you think Zuko is gonna be able to take care of him, you're crazy. He isn't even Fire Lord yet and he's been busy doing stuff all day." Katara commented.

"I know, I know. But there would be problems taking him to my home too. I'll be busy there at school- and he belongs here." I explained quickly.

"You can't just leave him here all alone. You're his mother figure. Everyone needs one of those." Katara said. "I could take him." She added quickly.

I thought for a moment. "I can't ask you to do that."

"No, it'd be okay-" Katara started.

"No, I can't. You are gonna be busy doing stuff with Aang. Travelling, having fun. I can't make you do that."

"What makes you think I'll be with Aang?" Katara asked shyly.

"Do I need to say it?" I said with a tiny scoff. "I already bet Zuko you'd be with him, like, next week."

Katara blushed and twiddled her thumbs together. "I guess you're right. I will be busy. But when you leave, but what will happen to him?"

Gaku, who was staring into space this whole conversation overheard her sentence and looked up at me with tears in his eyes. "Where are you going? You can't leave! You can't leave like mama!"

"Oh God," I said quietly before grabbing him into a hug. "Gaku, it'll be okay, I'll explain." I looked up at Katara. "Can you give us some space? I'll talk to you later. I have a few things to thank you for."

Katara stood up and brushed off her pants. "Sure, I think I'm gonna go try out that spa."

I nodded eagerly as she walked back into the palace. Gaku was still clearly very upset. "Gaku, I have to tell you a story."

Gaku blinked as tears went down his eyes. "I don't want a story, I want you to stay."

"Listen, I wasn't born here. I was born on a whole different world, okay? It's similar to this world, but none of you were there. And one day, I fell in some water, and ended up here. And I met Zuko, and I realized that our father was here all along. But my mom is still in my world, along with my brother, and I need to see them."

"But mom is gone, and I'm right here." Gaku said in confusion.

"No, my mom is different from your mom." I tried to explain. "Our father is the same but not our moms. And I have another brother. His name is Ben, I think you'd maybe like him."

Gaku scrunched his face in thought. "So you are going?"

"Yeah, just for 6 months." I said with a tiny smile as I brushed away his tears.

"You're gonna leave me with scar?" Gaku said, looking doubtful.

"Zuko said he'd take care of you." I corrected.

He hummed quietly in response, and watched the tiny ripples across the pond. "I don't want you to go." He finally answered.

I looked down at his eyes, which were deep and sad. I widened my eyes slightly, thinking back to Ben making the same face a long time ago. I shook my head softly. "I need to."

I sat with Gaku at that pond for quite a while. We didn't continue to talk, only watch the turtleducks and the water gently ripple. I couldn't imagine what Gaku felt. It must've hurt him to think I was leaving, especially after everything he had been through.

I was knocked out of my thoughts as Zuko sat next to me. "I was looking for you." He spoke evenly.

I glanced over at him quickly and smiled. "Hey, you were gone a while."

"Yeah, a lot of changes to be made." Zuko said with a tiny eyeroll. "You saw Azula?"

"Yeah, she was normal, well, acting a bit more sincere than usual. She wants to go to your coronation, I had to tell her no." I explained.

"Sister is leaving!" Gaku interrupted.

Zuko looked down at Gaku and back at me. "You told him?"

I gave a slow nod. "Gaku doesn't want me to go."

Zuko sighed. "I don't want her to leave either, Gaku. But she'll be back." He said encouragingly.

"It will only be 6 months." I added.

———

a/n- two more chapters after this. Someone bother me to post next part and it should be out quicker than usual lol