nothing to lose | zuko x oc

24

the two of them walked along the shores of the island, staying silent. zuko lead vada to an old house near the beach and the sat down in front of it.

"are you okay?" the waterbender asked, tenderly placing her cold hand on top of his. "yeah." he replied simply, but she knew that it wasn't true.

all the others joined them and they sat together in a circle. "are you cold?" zuko asked as he placed his arm around vada, "not really ." she replied and ty Lee smiled while shivering, "I'm freezing."

"I'll make a fire."

a few minutes later zuko came back with a bunch of stuff to burn. he threw everything on the fire and lastly, a painting of the royal family. his family.

"what are you doing?" ty Lee questioned, staring at the painting. "what does it look like?" zuko retorted with folded arms.

"its a painting of your family, why are you burning it?"

"you think I care?" he hissed.

"i think you do," she replied.

"you don't know me, so why don't you just mind your own business?"

"zuko." vada warned.

ty Lee looked down. "I know you."

"no, you don't! you're stuck in your little ty Lee world where everything is great all the time."

"leave her alone, zuko." mai interjected but zuko didn't listen.

"I'm so pretty, look I can walk on my hands! circus freak."

"zuko! that's enough!" vada stood, and with her temper, the tide seemed to raise several feet. but she took a breath and sat down, the tide lowering back to its original place.

"yes, I'm a circus freak. I joined the circus because I have six sisters who look just like me. I was a matched set. the circus made me stand out!"

"i guess that explains why you need ten boyfriends, too." mai stated, and vada almost gasped.

"what?" ty Lee seethed scowling at mai. "you didnt get enough attention as a kid, so you're trying to make up for it now."

"what's your excuse, mai? you were an only child for fifteen years, but even with that attention you're still a bitch with a dingy aura." ty Lee equipped back.

minako and vada looked at each other, neither of them had ever heard ty Lee curse before.

"i dont believe in auras." mai retorted.

"you don't believe in anything." the waterbender muttered beneath her breath. mai scowled at her, "I'm sorry I can't be as crazy as the rest of you."

"well maybe it would help. ty lee just called you a bitch to your face, are going to take that?" vada countered.

"you don't even know me, what do you want? a teary confession about how hard my childhood was?" mai started as she laid down on a boulder.

"it wasn't. I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted as long as I behaved. and sat still. my mother said I should keep out of trouble. we had my father's political career to think about."

vada scoffed, she was complaining about that? she complained about everything.

"that's it, then" Azula concluded, "you had a controlling mother who had certain expectations and if you didn't live up to them, you were shut down."

"maybe that's why you can't express yourself." minako stated.

mai scowled at her, "it's not like you had a hard life, either, princess!"

minako shrugged, "I didn't. the only hard thing that happened to me was that my brother died and my father left with zuko. I never knew my mother so I had my ladies in waiting."

"you lost your family, mina." vada stated, pulling her knees up to her chest. "that's hard."

"yeah sure it is." Azula rolled her eyes. "what do you even know about a hard life? all I know is that youre a watertribe barbarian with mediocre fighting skills."

"i was born royal, Azula." vada stated, causing everyone to turn their attention to her while she stared into the sand. "I was third in line for the northern watertribe throne. I was best friends with my cousin and everything was great."

vada began picking at her nail beds, "until I wanted to learn how to use my bending for combat." she said "I was stripped of my title, disowned and exiled, I haven't been back home since."

"boo hoo. Little princess lost her title. big deal." mai rolled her eyes.

vada jumped up. "watch your mouth," she glowered. "yeah, mai, you don't talk to her that way." zuko hissed.

"calm down, you guys! this type of negative energy is bad for your skin. you'll totally break out!" ty lee interjected, trying to ease the tension.

Zuko turned to scowl at her. "bad skin? normal teenagers worry about bad skin. I don't have that luxury because my father decided to teach me  a permanent lesson on my face!"

he turned around as he went on, "for so long, I thought that if my dad accepted me, I'll be happy. I'm back home and he talks to me. hell, he even thinks I'm a hero. I should be happy now, but I'm not! I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why!"

"who are you angry at?" Azula questioned.

"no one, I'm just angry."

"is it dad?"

"no.."

"is it me?" vada asked and he shook his head, "of course not."

"my father?" minako brainstormed.

"me?" Azula asked.

"no, no."

"the who?" mai asked, her features softening. "who are you angry at?"

"answer the question, zuko."

"talk to us."

"come on."

"I'm angry at myself!" the fire grew exponentially, almost singing vada's hair.

she stood and hugged zuko. "why?"

"because I'm confused." he replied softly. "I'm not sure I know the difference between right and wrong anymore."

"you're pathetic."

vada slapped her with a string of water.

Zuko turned, "you wound know about a hard time, would you, miss perfect?"

"no, I don't actually. I could always sit here and complain about how mom likes zuko more than me, but I don't really care!" she smiled and then looked into the fire.

"my own mother thought I was a monster." she said softly. "she was right, of course, but it still hurt."

"we really did learn about ourselves and each other." ty lee smiled.

"you know what would make this trip really memorable?"

~

"party's over!"

vada bent up a current of water from the ocean below and  charged into the house with the group.