Jaded Petals ↛ Zuko x OC ✔️

07 | Opening Up

It was afternoon when Daiyu had woken up, not even bothering to get up early to see the girls in the dojo. All she had done last night was pack and read Zuko's letter, wondering what would happen if they had seen one another. Would he immediately recognize her? Would she recognize him? Did his scar really destroy his face? Would he be happy or would he be angry? All night she had wondered what their first meeting in three years would be like. She felt beyond excited and every now in then, the image of what she imagined him looking like had made her heart beat faster. She thought it was out of pure anxiousness which only seemed logical in this situation. Soon, she had heard a knock on her door and sat up from her bed, placing the letter down. She had ran towards the door and opened it, seeing that it was Taolan. "They're here." He had said with a small smile as he had seen how brightly her face lit up, his smile had left quickly as well. "But... they bring trouble." Trouble? That's when she had heard a scream rip the air and could now fully smell burning wood. Her brows knitted together as she then ran towards the window, seeing a group of Fire Nation soldiers on Komodo Rhinos.

The streets were deserted, which she was thankful for, but she still couldn't believe he was going to burn down people's homes. '...Is the Avatar that important to you?' She thought as she had then heard a familiar, but much different voice. "Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" Even though hearing that voice, and knowing who it had belonged to, had made her want to smile... She knew that this voice was also demanding the capture of a twelve-year-old boy. She had stood so firmly in beliefs even still. She watched as the Rhinos had searched the town for Aang, going down the main street of the village. Daiyu had went over and got her bag and walked over to Taolan. "Thank you for much, especially teaching me so much about Earthbending." She had thanked him and gave him a deep, respectful bow. "I owe you so much and I don't know how I could ever repay you..." The older man merely smiled, "Just seeing Kyung Mi's eyes is more than enough for me." Immediately, Daiyu had stood straight and looked at him questionably, "Kyung Mi? T-That's my mother's name." Taolan just kept a smile on his face and gave Daiyu's shoulder's an affectionate squeeze. "Go on, child." He then earthbended the wood beneath her to push her heels, her instincts making her hurry to catch her footing and go out the door.

Even though she had kept running, a part of her wanting to go back and ask him how he knew her mother and more important, she wondered if Iroh knew anything about her. Once she made it to the front door, she had seen the Komodo Rhinos moving forward and also the group of Kyoshi Warriors attacking Zuko's army. She bit down on her lip, wondering what she should do and that was until she had seen Suki dash towards someone. Before she could get a good landing on them, they had had turned his Komodo Rhino and that's when she noticed that it was indeed Zuko. His once luxurious, brown hair that was pulled in a ponytail was gone, well for the most part. He was bald and there was only the tail of it left. There was a large scar on the left side of his face. From the sight of it, she immediately felt guilty and even hurt. If she was there, could she had saved him? Could she had convince Ozai to not burn his own son?

By the time she had went out from her shock, she had seen Zuko falling off the Komodo Rhino and immediately she had ran to him, catching him near the end and shielding his head with her arm from hitting the ground. Immediately, his amber eyes had shot up at her and she looked right back with them with her own jade oculars. At first, he appeared confused and seemed to be question who she was but eventually, he had recognized her. "Daiyu..." He mumbled her name, audible enough for her to hear him. Immediately, she tried to think of a cool response but she couldn't think of any. "Zuko." The corner of her lips tugged up into a smile and he had looked like he struggled to smile, but then made his face into a scowl. He immediately stood and dusted off his clothing. Soon they were surrounded by warriors, who seemed confused by Daiyu's relationship with the Firebender. She had given them guilty eyes and she had felt Zuko's hand wrap around her arm. "Get on the Rhino." He had said in which she appeared confused. "What?" She asked. "Get on the Rhino." He repeated as she looked at him with a strange expression but obeyed.