Dead Sea ━ Prince Zuko

ii. The Summer and Prince Zuko

two:

THE SUMMER AND PRINCE ZUKO

on the summer of 92 AG

ZUKO DOESN'T KNOW IT YET— ABOUT HOW MUCH HIS LIFE IS CHANGING, but at the end, he doesn't know too many things at the age of eight anyways, and he's only sure of some less, like the fact his sister Azula constantly enjoys to mock about the smallest of his mistakes and that she barely ever tells the truth because she considers that to be nothing but mere fun (not that it's fun for Zuko, but Azula, only with seven, is really good at amusing herself with his awkward reactions at her lies and annoying jokes, and Zuko is really good at showing his frustration towards that with just flushed cheeks and storming out from a room because his sister is already something too much for him to handle).

So prince Zuko knows then little things; so little like his control in firebending according to his suddenly harsh father and a pompous Azula, but he's almost of the age of nine and still learning, and by the time he thinks on it, Zuko has already become an outstanding student for Master Piandao and he has even been allowed to stop using practice dual broadswords during some of the sessions (which is good!), so he insists that the rest of his lessons count too, not only the ones of bending, if someone viewed a competition between him and his sister because they do count (he's working hard of them! They should count!)—nevertheless, Zuko gets that Azula is the best student in her class and probably in the whole girl academy she proudly assists to, and that she has shown her manipulation towards fire at a younger age than the one expected for a normal firebender.

Azula doesn't waste any of her time reminding everyone that whenever she has the chance, so Zuko can't forget about it no matter if he doesn't actually care that his sister was discovered playing with fire when she was only three. But still, that gives her no right to be so cruel against him. They are siblings after all, right? And aren't siblings supposed to love each other? Zuko doesn't think that Azula loves him as she should, and for so long, he did not actually put too much attention on how he felt about her either (it was better to put attention on what Azula was planning to do against him than that, it must be understood—a thing of ensuring his own safety, from Zuko's point of view). Zuko used to be sure that deep inside he had some kind of affection for his sister no matter her cruel attitude against him—so, so buried in his chest, but definitely less buried than how it was for Azula. After all, Zuko remembers all those fights they used to act for their parents representing the final dual of that play their mother loved to watch when they visited their house at Ember Island every summer. He might have had to be the Dark Water Spirit more times than the amount he had wished to (what kind of kid would like to be the evil antagonist? Surely, not him. Zuko has always thought that Azula would perfectly fit the role, but before he could say a word, Azula had already claimed that she was going to be Noren, the Dragon Emperor, and she was already starting to chase him, and well, Zuko found himself running away from her and accepting that again, he was the not the savior of the day), but he was happy when it all happened. Those were times in which Zuko didn't even consider if Azula didn't love him as she should and if he didn't love her back in the same correct way—running in the beach with Azula who tried to throw sand at his eyes before she started using her fingertips to cause him small burns in his ankles when he was distracted and playing in the water until the sun decided to hide.