Under the Cherry Blossom ↠ Zuko x OC ✔️

08 | Night of a Thousand Stars

"Arlington!" Zuko gets up from his seated position by the pond. He runs over towards Arlington and wraps her in a tight embrace.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" His golden eyes inspect Arlington for any injuries.
"I'm fine, Zuko, I swear." Arlington answers and buries her head in Zuko's chest. She missed him and Peanut so much.

"What happened? You managed to get a sunburn when it's almost winter. Where did the resistance take you? How did you escape?" Zuko bombards Arlington with questions. He stares into her golden green eyes with worry.

"Well, I was kidnapped by the resistance and locked up on an island. They wanted to use me as leverage against you and to make a deadly weapon for them because apparently they knew that I was good at inventing things. I escaped from the island on a raft because the leader, Toshiro, wasn't too smart, although he seemed to be going crazy which may make him a threat. And I was at sea for who knows how long; that's where I got the sunburn. I eventually landed in the southern tip of the Earth Kingdom where I spent the night and got a ferry ticket. Then, some dude tried to rob me but he wasn't too smart either, so I easily got away from him. Then I was on a ferry for two days and landed here a little while ago. I ran up to the gate but the guard didn't believe it was me, so I airbended myself over the wall and now I'm here." Arlington explains in one breath. She looks up at her boyfriend.

Zuko looks at Arlington in complete shock. 'She went through all that?' He scans her once more for injuries. The only noticeable difference is her sunburnt face, dark circles under her eyes, and that she lost a bit of weight. Arlington almost looks like how she did when Zuko rescued her from prison.

"Let's go inside and get something to eat. Everyone is gonna want to know what happened." Zuko tugs on Arlington's sleeve, leading her inside the palace. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls Arlington closer to him. Peanut walks closely next to Arlington. Both the Fire Lord and the little fluffy animal are afraid to let Arlington out of their sight again.

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Once the trio enter the dinning room, all eyes land on Arlington.
"Hey guys." Arlington shyly says and does a small wave.

"ARLINGTON!!!" Aang whips up an air scooter and rides towards her. The Avatar tackles Arlington into a hug. They fall to the ground. The rest of the Gaang join in on the big group hug.

"We missed you Munchkin!" Sokka claps Arlington on the back.
"Munchkin? Never heard that one before." Arlington sarcastically teases.
"Hey, while you were gone, I came up with new nicknames for everyone!" Sokka proudly says.
"Yeah and they're all pretty stupid." Suki jokingly rolls her eyes.

The whole Gaang sits at the mahogany wood dinner table and begin to eat lunch. Large trays of food are spread out in front of Arlington. Arlington's mouth waters; she hasn't had a warm meal in such a long time. She shovels huge amounts of food into her mouth with gusto. Her friends stare at her in shock.

"What?" Arlington mumbles with a mouth full of food.
"You're so small yet you eat so much!! And you're hogging all the meat!" Sokka exclaims with wide eyes.
"Sokka." Suki softly says while placing a hand on her boyfriend's arm. She gives Sokka a look telling him to stop.

"So what happened with the resistance? Did you kick their butts?" Toph asks, taking a large bite out of her bread roll. She burps afterwards.
"I would've totally kicked their butts, but I had to make a stealthy escape." Arlington says.

"Did they, uh, you know, do anything to you?" Katara hesitantly asks. Everyone waits for Arlington's answer. Arlington can feel Zuko's eyes staring at her.
"No. They just had me chained in a cage." Arlington looks down at her lap and fiddles with the metal shackles still on her wrists and ankles.