Torn Heart (Zuko x Reader)

Chapter 23

            "Toph!" breaking into tears too, I jumped to my feet and threw my arms around my friend. She was shaking, now full on sobbing into my shoulder.
            "How are you alive?"
            "I survived the cave in," I laughed, pulling away to cup her face in my hands, "And you assholes ditched me."
            She punched my arm, before pulling me into another hug, "I'm so happy you're safe, Y/N."

No ones POV:
With three helpings of supper in his hands, Zuko turned the corner onto the street they had been sitting along. He stopped short at the sight, the food falling to the dirt. Y/N had her arms around the blind earth-bending girl. He whipped back around the corner and strained his ear to listen.
"Toph, you're crushing me,"
"Sorry, sorry, I just...don't believe it—Come on, we have to go get the others!"
No.
"Hang on, hang on,"
He chanced a look around the corner. Y/N was pulling against the girl who was trying to drag her.
"I can't leave just yet. I have to wait for my friends to get back. Then I'll meet up with you,"
"Friends?" the other voice echoed, faltering, "We're your friends."
"Right, but...well, I guess 'friend' isn't quite accurate..."
A moment of silence.
"It's a guy, isn't it?" he could hear a smug smile in her tone.
"Yeah..." he could imagine her cute blush, "I can't wait for you guys to meet him. You'll love him,"
Zuko swallowed hard.
The other girl conceded, telling Y/N where to find them—a cave just outside the town.
"I'll be along soon. Oh, this is going to be great!" were Y/N's parting words, before they parted.
Zuko waited a few seconds, heart pounding, before stepping back around the corner. Y/N was pacing, fidgeting with her fingers. He wished he could enjoy her cute nervous habits.
He realized too late he had left their dinner on the ground behind him, but she didn't notice. Instead, when she spotted him, her face lit up and she grabbed his hand. "Zuko, I found them! My friends—they're here!"
He didn't have a second to feign surprise—lucky, as he didn't have the strength to act—because she dragged him down the street, babbling on about the interaction he just witnessed. Before he knew it, they were in the forest, approaching the large mouth of a cave. Panicking, Zuko ripped his hand from  Y/N's. But she hesitated anyway. He could hear the blind girl inside saying to the others, "Guys, wait, someone's coming?"
Another female voice—the water-bender,      "Who?"
Y/N sniggered, poised to jump out. Zuko opened his mouth but words wouldn't come. Ra, it felt like his heart would explode.
"Toph?" said the Avatar himself when his friend didn't respond.
Y/N winked at him over her shoulder, "Here goes."
"Y/N, I—" he eked out, but she jumped into the mouth of the cave and whatever nonsense he was able to force out was drown in cries of surprise.
He peeked carefully around the corner. Y/N was smothered in crying, exclaiming friends.
"I can't believe it!"
"Y/N, I thought you were gone!"
"Toph, you knew?!"
"We wanted to surprise you,"
She pulled away from the pile, "And there's one other thing. I met someone."
The water tribe boy gripped her face, "A boy?! If he hurts you—"
She laughed, waving him off, "It's okay, Sokka. He would never hurt me."
Zuko closed his eyes and pounded his head against the stone. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He felt a pair of eyes on him. Y/N had returned to the mouth of the cave and was peering at him in confusion, "Come on out...What's wrong?"
Zuko tried to swallow, but could barely breathe around the lump in his throat. Maybe it would suffocate him and he would be spared this feeling.
But no, he kept on living.
It's now or never.
The next few milliseconds seemed to last several agonizing minutes. Zuko seized Y/N by the shoulders, pushing her back into the cave, before turning her so he was between her and the Avatar. Something unspoken passed between their eyes in the heartbeat before he turned away—a conversation—a breaking.
Zuko?
I'm sorry, Y/N. I hope you can forgive me, someday.
With that, he turned his back on her and swung a fist, letting out a fireball straight at the Avatar.