nothing to lose | zuko x oc

19

zuko and vada roamed the streets of the middle ring, enjoying the morning breeze.

Zuko was nervous as he touched the small, velvet bag in his pocket. how would he even ask her..?

nevermind that. he'd have to tell her the truth, too. it now was the perfect time.

he looked at her as he took her cold hand in his softly, bringing it up and placing a kiss on her knuckles. she smiled at him and he felt weak.

maybe now wasn't the perfect time. it would ruin the mood.

"would you like something to eat?" he asked her and she nodded, "what did you have in mind?" she quizzed and he pointed to a mochi shop.

walking inside, zuko ordered them both some mochi and it was ready within a few minutes. then, they went to a nearby park to eat.

the water from the pond glistened beneath the sunlight.

"thanks for the mochi." vada said with her cheeks full, "it's delicious."

Zuko noted how her eyes matched the colour of the ocean on a warm summers day. they were mesmerising and he could have sworn to see flecks of indigo here and there.

he didn't even feel like this about mai back home.

Zuko leaned down and kissed the waterbender's cheek. "it's my pleasure. I love treating you."

vada smiled up at him. she had never been treated with such tenderness in her life. the giddy feeling that she had always felt around this boy was now replaced with a serenity and calmness.

even though she was a fighter at heart, she wouldn't mind zuko saving her in any way. she didn't know how to describe it.

Zuko reached into his pocket once more and touched the small velvet bag.

"are you okay, Lee?"

there it was. the sick feeling in his stomach.

"yeah," he replied quickly. "vada, there's something I want to tell you."

"yeah?" she looked up at him, a breeze flowing through her hair. she felt some kind of repeated sense. like this happened before.

Zuko was panicking. how would he tell her that he's the banished firenation Prince? how could he? she was happy with him as Lee and finding out of his lineage will only complicate things.

he swallowed thickly and pulled the velvet bag from his pocket. "I got you something."

he placed the bag into her hands and she grinned, "aw, you didn't have to, thank you!" she said, causing zuko to let out a soft laugh.

"open it before you thank me, dummy." he teased and she rolled her eyes jokingly whilst pulling the bag open.

out of it, she pulled a traditional betrothal necklace. her smile fell as she stared at it.

was he asking her to marry him?

"i saw a watertribe girl wearing one a lot like this while I traveled. I thought you would like it." he said, but vada remained quiet, dragging her thumb across the carving.

the sun and the moon hanging over the ocean.

"I carved the moonstone myself." zuko continued.

he didn't know that this was a betrothal necklace. he just thought it was jewelry. that was what clicked in vada's head when she heard him say that.

"its absolutely beautiful." she told him, embracing him in a hug. "I love it, thank you."

he pecked her softly on the lips, offering to put it on her and she complied, lifting her hair so that zuko could carefully clasp the choker around her neck.

once he was done, vada thanked him once more. the clock near the square chimed, signalling that it was almost twelve. "you have to get to the teashop, Lee."

she also had to get to the palace for the war meeting.

"oh yeah! I completely forgot," zuko facepalmes as vada placed her thumb and pointer finger in her mouth, whistling for koa.

"yeah, me too." she said awkwardly as the eagle wolf landed near them. vada jumped onto him with zuko just behind her. he hopped on and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"let's go, koa!"

the eagle wolf took flight and zipped over to the teashop as quick as he could. once they landed, vada and zuko shared one last kiss before she took off again on the direction of the palace.

~

"general fong's base will serve as the launching point for the attack." the general spoke.

vada and katara were sitting across from the five men, listening intently at what they said.

"in exactly two months, the army and navy will invade the firenation on the day of black sun."

the pieces on the map moved forward and Momo flew over to attack them. the two watertribe girls giggled, "or we can send in Momo to do some damage!" katara joked.

none of the men found it funny. buzzkills.

"all we need is the earth King's seal." he said and handed the scroll to vada. "well get these plans to him right away." the waterbenders bowed and walked off.

the two girls walked through the city, enjoying the afternoon sun. "where did you get that betrothal necklace? did lee propose?" katara queried, pointing at vada's necklace.

"oh," the white haired girl touched the moonstone, "no he actually doesn't know about the tradition, so he just thinks it's jewelry."

"hey, why don't we grab a cup of tea before getting back to the king?" vada suggested and katara smiled.

"why not?"

they walked down the street and entered the jasmine dragon. it was quaint and filled to the brim with people. vada turned to a waitress, "hello, table for two, please." she smiled.

"right this way, miss." the girl said and sat the two waterbenders down at a table, handing each a menu.

"wow, this place is so cute," vada marvelled, looking around. katara didn't seem like she was listening.

the older girl looked at her friend strangely. "kat? what's wrong?"

"we have to leave." katara's voice was shaking.

"what? why? what's wrong?"

"now, vada. let's go."

katara took vada by the wrist and they ran out of the teashop as fast as they could.

"why are we running?" the older girl questioned. "I'll explain later," the younger replied, "we need to get to the palace!"

they ran side by side, up the steps and into the throne room. the king was nowhere in sight, but the three kyoshi warriors were.

"thank goodness you're here, suki! something terrible is going on!" katara said as they came to a standstill in front of the three girls.

vada listened too, as she was also in the dark about the situation.

"the firenation has infiltrated the city. I just saw Prince zuko and his uncle!"

a chill went up the white haired girl's spine, and anxiety crept into her chest.

"don't worry, I'll be sure to tell the king." this wasn't suki. the voice was much sharper and sounded almost sinister.

"you're not suki." vada said as she pulled her water from her pouch.

a girl with a braid flipped over to katara and chi-blocked her. before vada could do anything, she was chi-blocked, too. and then struck in the vagus nerve to be knocked out.