Zuko’s heart pounded as he made his way home from the beach. The intense training session with Denki had drained him, but a familiar knot of dread twisted in his stomach as he approached the door. It was always like this—coming home felt like stepping into a battlefield of a different kind.
He paused for a moment outside the front door, his hand hovering over the handle. The sky was dark now, the dim light from the street lamps casting long, eerie shadows across the yard. He took a deep breath, trying to steel himself for whatever waited on the other side of that door.
Just get in, go to your room, and stay out of his way, he told himself.
Pushing the door open, Zuko slipped inside quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible. The house was silent, which only heightened his sense of unease. The shadows in the corners seemed to stretch and twist, watching him as he moved through the dimly lit hallway.
As he stepped further inside, he heard the creak of a chair. His pulse quickened. Turning toward the living room, Zuko froze when he saw him—his father, sitting in his usual chair, waiting.
“Late again,” his father’s deep voice echoed through the quiet house. There was a cold, biting edge to his tone.
Zuko didn’t meet his eyes. “I was training.”
His father, tall and imposing, leaned forward slightly, his gaze never leaving Zuko. “Training? For what, exactly? You think you’ll be a hero? That’s laughable.”
Zuko’s fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tightening. This wasn’t new—it was the same cruel routine every time they crossed paths. His father, once a promising pro-hero, had fallen from grace, and now he spent every day reminding Zuko of how worthless he thought his son was.
“I’m going to get into UA,” Zuko said quietly, his voice steady but filled with tension.
His father stood up slowly, his movements deliberate, intimidating. “UA? You? You’re just as delusional as your mother was.”
Zuko’s chest tightened, and a flash of anger surged through him. His shadow flickered in the corner of the room, reacting to his emotions. He hated when his father brought up his mother, twisting the knife with cruel words meant to wound.
“She believed in me,” Zuko said, his voice low and dangerous. “She knew I could control my quirk.”
His father’s lips curled into a sneer. “Control? Don’t make me laugh. You can barely keep that shadow of yours from consuming you. You’ll never be a hero, Zuko. You’re just like your mother—a failure.”
The words hit Zuko like a physical blow, but he refused to show any weakness. His eyes burned with a mix of rage and defiance as he stared down the man who had tormented him for years.
“You’re wrong,” Zuko said through gritted teeth.“She's not a failure, you are.”
His father took a step closer, looming over him. “You’ll never make it in that world, boy. The only thing waiting for you out there is disappointment. You should give up before you embarrass yourself.”
The air between them crackled with tension, Zuko’s shadow curling around his feet like a living thing, responding to his emotions. He wanted to lash out, to make his father understand that he wasn’t weak, that he wasn’t a failure. But he knew that would only give his father the satisfaction of seeing him lose control.
Without another word, Zuko turned on his heel and stormed up the stairs, his shadow flickering angrily behind him. His father’s mocking laughter followed him, echoing in the dark hallway as Zuko slammed the door to his room.
Inside his sanctuary, Zuko collapsed on the bed, his body shaking with frustration and anger. He took deep breaths, trying to calm the storm raging inside him. His shadow flickered and twitched in the corners of the room, reflecting the turmoil in his heart.
He stared up at the ceiling, the weight of his father’s words pressing down on him. He had heard it all before, the constant reminder that he was destined to fail, that he was nothing. But Zuko refused to accept that. He would make it into UA. He would become a hero.
No matter what his father said, Zuko would prove him wrong.
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ActionZuko has spent his life under the crushing weight of his father's expectations. Born with the rare ability to control shadowflames-a dangerous, unpredictable quirk-he's never been able to meet the impossibly high standards set by his hero father. Co...
