Façades [A Zuko x OC Story]

34 - A Field Trip with Li Mei

Katara and I walk up from the beach and join the rest of Team Avatar just as the sun disappears and the moon takes its place. I see Zuko eyeing me awkwardly when we arrive. He stands up as soon as I get close to him. He grabs my hand and stops my movement, "We need to talk."

"It seems we're doing a lot of talking lately." I pull my hand out from his.

"Please." His eyes soften.

"Okay... But there is somewhere I want to go first." I grab his arm and pull him away with me.

We walk up the long steps leading to my family's summer home and I sit on the top step, facing the ocean, "What did you want to talk about?" I look over at Zuko who joins me on the step.

"I know you told me that you'll never forgive me. But I'm not going to stop apologizing to you until you listen to me."

"That may take a very long time." I smile jokingly. I run my hands along the wood of the steps, "We used to spend so much time here... So many summers. So many memories."

"Back when building the best sandcastle was the only problem in the world." Zuko says, "Now we are planning on ways to kill my father."

My smile drops, "Yeah... How times have changed... I wish I could go back to when we were kids. When things were simpler and happier."

"I don't want to go back." Zuko declares. I scoff, "Are you happy with the way things are now?"

"No. But back then I still believed that the Fire Nation was good... And that my father was good."

I put my hand on his shoulder, "I thought so too." I look up to the stars, "To be fair though, you thought the Fire Nation was good even a few days ago."

Zuko pushes my hand off of his shoulder and glares at me, "Sorry." I smile sheepishly and he picks up my hand in his own - clearly wanting to say something.

I stand up and pull on his arm before he can speak, "Come on! I want to take a look around." He reluctantly stands up and allows himself to be dragged into the large house with me.

I light the candles in the entryway and a flood of memories comes back to me. Happy times of childhood, running up and down the halls with Zuko and Azula.

"I wonder if my mother left any clothes here." I look down at the tattered grey prison clothes that I have been wearing for the past few weeks.

I slide the door to my parents' bedroom open and I light the lanterns on the walls. I open a wardrobe and to my luck, several red articles of clothing sit in the wooden drawers. I slide the bedroom door closed as Zuko continues to wander about the house.

I rip off my ragged prison garbs and chuck them into the corner of the room. I pull on a pair of dark maroon pants with a tight, slightly cropped red tank top and to finish it off, the classic Fire Nation pointed boots.

When I slide the door back open, Zuko is leaning against the wall across from me. I spin around, "What do you think?"

"You look... Nice." He mumbles. I stop my spinning, "Wow, you really had to choke that one out, didn't you?"

"I just-" I put my hands on his shoulders, "I'm kidding, Zuko."

I pull him by his wrist, "We should go back and join the others." I say as our hands become intertwined.

"No!" Zuko blurts out and his grip on my hand grows tighter, "What is it?" I raise a brow as I look over my shoulder at him.

"I still want to look around."

"Zuko, you've been in this house hundreds of times when you were a kid, there's nothing new to discover."

"Well... Look at that." Zuko points at an old cabinet, "Very cool, it's a piece of furniture. Let's go." I try to pull on his hand but he doesn't move, "Not the cabinet." Zuko walks over to it dragging me with him. He runs his fingers over some carvings in the wood. I lean over to see what it says.