The play was done, everyone was asleep. As we agreed, we would talk more after the play. We were on the beach, sitting side-by-side. It was silent, as if he was organizing his thoughts.
"Zuko." I spoke first.
"Yea?" he asked me.
"Do you like me?" I asked him.
"Yes, but-" He replied immediately.
"Do you like Mai?" I asked next. He hesitated, but he replied with a yes. "Do you want to be the Fire Lord?" I asked him.
He said nothing but I saw him nod. "Then, you should pick Mai." I looked at him, smiling. "You know I'm not fit to be Fire Lady." I looked down seeing the ribbon bracelet. "You kept it." I mumbled, lifting his sleeve to look at the bracelet.
"Can I say what I want to now?" He asked and I nodded.
"I do like Mai, but its not the same way that I like you. I realized that after seeing her again at the prison. You, I love you. The you from our childhood, the you when I was falling apart, the you right now." he reached out, and I felt his hand brush past mine.
"I don't care if your not from a noble family, I don't care about your past. No matter what anyone says. You stayed with me through so much, when my mom left, and into my exile. You had so many chances to leave.. but you always came back." I stared at him as he talked. "I know my past decisions make it hard for you to trust anything I say. But, it's you that I want to be with. What can I do so that you can trust me again..." His hand that was next to mine was now clenched into a fist. Looking at his hand, then up at him. I put my hand on his, making him relax his grip.
"I'll trust you. I always have." I whispered. He rest his head on my shoulder in relief. I reached up towards his face, brushing my finger over his scar. I saw his head tilt into my hand. I leaned in and kissed his jaw, then his lips.
~~~
A few days later, I was sitting with Katara on the steps as Aang and Zuko continued training. "So, you got back late last night." she smiled at me.
"Just a walk on the beach." I smiled, looking at Zuko.
"When he told me what happened, couldn't believe my ears." she shook her head.
"His speech wasn't the best.. but he got his point across in the end." I smiled watching them train.
"Then I can give this back to you, right?" He handed me something. I looked and saw it was the ribbon bracelet.
"You kept it?" I asked as she tied it back on for me.
"Well, obviously." she smiled.
"I'm sure his uncle will be happy too." Toph looked at me.
"Yeah." I smiled, looking at the nearly healed cut on my hand. The scab was gone, but it also didn't scar.
"Okay, who wants watermelon juice?" Katara asked.
"Me me me!" Aang came running over.
"Your lessons not over yet, come back here!" Zuko grabbed Aang before he could reach us.
"Come on Zuko, take a break." Suki said as she sipped from Sokka's watermelon. "What's the big deal?" she asked.
"Fine." Zuko let go of Aang. "If you wanna lounge around like a bunch of snail sloths all day, then go ahead!"
"Maybe Zuko's right. Lounging around the house has made us pretty lazy." Sokka stood up. "I heave the perfect solution, beach party!" he ran to the water. Suki and I laid on the beach with a towel, Katara went surfing, Aang made a sand sculpture, Toph made Ba Sing Se with sandbending and Sokka made a slug.
"If you break up with him, we get it." I told her. She just laughed.
"I think it's cute." she said as Sokka came over and kissed her.
Then we all ducked at the sound of explosions as Zuko chased Aang around blasting fire at him. "What happened?" Katara asked.
"Zuko's gone crazy! I made a sand sculpture of Suki and he destroyed it!" Sokka tried repairing the sculture.
"Oh, and he's attacking Aang." I added.
"We should go." Suki said and I nodded. Suki grabbed Sokka and we all ran up the hill.
"They went to the house!" I yelled.
We went around the back and Zuko was on the ground. "What's wrong with you? You could have hurt Aang!" Katara said to him.
I helped Zuko to his feet. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you?" he asked them. "How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's comet is only 3 days away?" he asked us. "Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?" he asked again.
"We have something to tell you." I smiled at Zuko, holding his hand.
"About Sozin's comet...I was actually gonna wait to fight the Firelord until after it came." Aang told Zuko.
"After?" Zuko asked.
"I'm not ready. I need more time to master firebending." Aang told him.
"Frankly, your earthbending could use some work too." Toph added.
"So, you all knew Aang was gonna wait?" he asked us, looking at me.
"Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Firelord now, he's going to lose. No offense." Sokka added.
"The whole point of fighting with the Firelord before the comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war. But they pretty much won when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse." Katara explained.
"Your wrong. It's about to get worse than you can even imagine." Zuko turned around. "The day before the eclipse, my father asked me to attend an important war meeting. It was what I dreamed about, and wanted for so many years. My father accepted me back." Zuko explained about the plan they came up with during the meeting. "I wanted to speak out against his horrifying plan but I'm ashamed to say I didn't." We all looked at each other. "My whole life I've struggled to gain my father's love and acceptance. But once I had it, I realized I lost myself getting there. I'd forgotten who I was."
"I knew the Firelord was a bad guy, but his plan is just evil." Sokka said.
"What am I gonna do?" Aang asked.
"I know your scared, and I know your not ready to save the world. But if you don't defeat the Firelord before the comet, there won't be a world to save anymore." Zuko told Aang.
"This is a lot worse than we could've imagined." I sighed.
"Why didn't you tell me about your dad's plan sooner?" Aang asked, pacing back and forth.
"I didn't think I had to, I assumed you were going to fight him before the comet." Zuko explained. "No one told me you decided to wait."
"This is bad, this is really really bad." Aang was panicking.
"You don't have to do this by yourself." Katara walked up to him.
"If we all fight him together, we got a shot at taking him down." Toph agreed with Katara.
"Fighting the Firelord is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together. But I wouldn't want it any other way." Aang smiled at us.
Everyone got in a group hug. Zuko and I stayed where we were. "Come here guys." Aang smiled at us both.
"Being part of the group means being a part of group hugs." Katara said. Pulling Zuko along, we joined in the hug.
"Redirect lightning?" Katara asked and I nodded.
"He's gonna need to learn how. Both Azula and Ozai know the technique. Zuko knows how to redirect it, but he can't shoot lightning." I said, watching them train. "Hes surprisingly a good teacher, kinda.." I mumbled seeing Aang's dejected face.
"It's nice seeing you like this." Katara smiled at me.
".. shut up." I looked away, slightly embarrassed.
YOU ARE READING
Zuko x Reader
FanfictionI was abandoned by my parents, and taken in by Empress Ursa. Raised by maids until I was three, taken by Ozai for my water bending, tortured, interrogated and then put in his "Guardians." However... Everything changed during the Agni Kai.. ~~ I ow...
