By Your Side (Zuko x Reader) (Sequel to Torn Heart)

Chapter 2

            Y/N's face was a mix of fear, pain, and longing, and Zuko didn't want to know what his face was doing. He tore his eyes away from her E/C ones with some difficulty, turning and speeding towards the back of the shop, ignoring the protests of the customer. Behind him, he could hear Y/N catching the attention of his boss.
             Shit, shit, shit. She's going to rat us out as firebenders...Okay, first thing I need to do is grab Uncle, and then—
             "Lee," his boss grabbed him by the shoulder and he tensed, but the man was smiling, "You can take your lunch break now. Your cousin is here; she says she's gonna take you out."
             "Is she now?" Zuko said, not bothering to hide his dread.
             "I thought you said you don't have any family in Ba Sing Se..."
             "I didn't," he replied quickly, "She must have just got here."
             He shrugged and removed his hand, "Have a good time."
             "Hey, cuzzy!" Y/N sang as Zuko came up to her. She led him out of the tea shop and down the bustling street. He watched her H/C hair bouncing in front of him, as he wondered at how she was rambling on like no time had passed.
              Finally, they reached the stand she had been raving about. At Y/N's instruction, Zuko sat stiffly on a bench while she bought their food. While she did, he studied her profile. It was like she had jumped straight out of his past, only she wore a muted green Earth Kingdom dress and was much cleaner than he'd ever seen her—no, her hair was also longer and was that a new scar? And another?
He couldn't tell from this distance, but he wanted to get closer, scrutinize every inch of her skin, find out what had changed, what had happened since he'd last seen her, who hurt her?!
"Here you go,"
Zuko shook himself from his thoughts as Y/N handed him a carton of noodles with chopsticks. "Thanks," he said, stiffly.
She sat next to him, "Don't mention it. It was the least I could do after I deceived you and used you to get to the Avatar—Oh, wait! You did that to me."
Ah, there it was! Zuko was silent for a moment, struck by the sudden saltiness of the remark, before saying, "I'm sorry about that."
He cringed. Many times both in his dreams and in his waking hours, he'd imagined what he'd say to remedy what he'd done, how he could fix everything with just words.
But every time, it sounded way better than that.
"Truly," he added, awkwardly, before filling his mouth with noodles.

My POV:
Zuko! It was Zuko! Here—in Ba Sing Se!
I kept waiting every moment to snap out of this hallucination (because apparently I have those now) and for him to disappear, leaving me looking like a dumbass eating on a bench alone talking to myself. But, no, he was still here—every time I blinked—still here.
When I saw him in that tea shop, my body moved apart from my mind. Inwardly, I was trembling, yet I found myself rambling onto him like nothing had changed, buying him lunch, all with that familiar, searing, golden gaze on me. My desire burned hotter and hotter every second, but whether I desired to make out with him or murder him was yet to be decided.
And now, he was offering the lamest apology ever.
"Are you still traveling with your friends?" Zuko asked, changing the subject.
"No," I lied, "We got separated again."
He smirked and I felt faint, "They have a problem hanging onto you?"
"Are you still with your uncle?"
He snorted, "You think it was my idea to work in a tea shop?"
I giggled, "I guess not. What do you think of Ba Sing Se?"
           He shook his head, "It's terrible...but I guess...it could be worse. It's like there's no war here."
           I rolled my eyes, "You have no idea."
           "What?"
           "Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it,"
We ate in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Zuko lifted his eyes from his lunch and I felt his gaze on my profile, "I'm really happy to see you, Y/N."
Hearing him say my name was like feeling sunlight on your skin after a month of darkness. I didn't meet his gaze for a long moment, though he kept it stubbornly stuck to me. Was I happy to see him? It was more complicated than that.
Finally, I gave him a vague, "Yeah." My eyes flicked up to his face, but only for a heartbeat—Fuck me, he had that awful, vulnerable look on his face, a trembling frown, with his right eye round and unblinking—before I busied myself with wrapping up my trash.
I stood up hurriedly, "You should get back to work, and I should get back to...what I was doing."
Zuko stood too, but more reluctantly, "Right."
"It was good to see you," I admitted, but stiffly, "I'm glad you're doing well."
Without waiting for a reply, I turned away, but not before Zuko grabbed my wrist, "Y/N, will you meet me somewhere tonight?"
"Why?" I asked through my teeth.
"I want to see you again. Somewhere...more private. Where we can talk,"
"We were talking,"
"Like talking for real," his voice trembled and when I chanced a look at him, I could hardly tell where his scar started from how red the rest of his face was.
Dammit, this I'm not strong enough to resist.
Whatever.
"Yeah, okay."