Coco (ATLA) (Book 1)- Major Editing Coming SOON

Crossroads

Word Count; 2,163

Change...

I don't like change. I thought I did, but I don't. I liked when I was traveling with uncle and Zuko on their ship, when we had a crew, when I hung out with Wang, despite not knowing where my family was... but when we became fugitives, and Princess Azula entered our lives... Well, I don't like change. I don't like this scar, I don't like running from Azula, I don't like being away from my father and my brother... And I don't like Zuko.

Let me explain.

Life was going pretty well after the incident with Jet. I was spending more time with my dad and my brother, uncle and our relationship was doing amazing, uncle became known for his magnificent tea, and Zuko hit a huge milestone in his life. He finally realized that he didn't need to capture the Avatar. Him giving up on Aang felt like a breath of fresh air. I had wanted it for so long, and it was like a dream come true when it finally happened. Then we came across something huge together... So how did I end up here? Fleeing from Ba Sing Se with the Avatar, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King instead of being with uncle and Zuko? Well, it's a long story.

...

It started with a beautiful girl who always came by the tea shop. She likes the Jasmine. She's has the prettiest green eyes, her face is round, and she's short, but taller than me... prettier than me. She was always giving Zuko those big googly eyes. She looked at Zuko how I use to look at Patyn. She thought Zuko was hot, I knew for a fact, but he was hilariously oblivious to everything. I could see she had a massive crush on him, uncle could see she had a crush on him, but he was the only person who didn't seem to get it, so uncle decided to step in... Gosh I wish he wouldn't have done that. He got Zuko a date with her! I wasn't happy about it. I mean, yeah, I guess I did develop a crush on Zuko. It's just lately, I've seen sides of him that I liked a lot, that I never knew Zuko could possess. It was like he was a totally different person. He seemed so protective, so sensitive, and he actually talked to me. So when the date didn't go quite as planned, I can't say I was sad about it.

...

"So that's what happened."

Zuko just finished telling me about his date, and something tells me they won't be seeing each other again.

"So, couldn't get Mai out of your head? You've got it bad," I joke.

"Not exactly," He says quite seriously, catching me off guard.

"Huh? So what happened then? Why didn't you kiss her?"

I'm so confused. There's no way he just wasn't interested. She's gorgeous, and even though I've only had a few conversations with her, I can tell she's super sweet, and she seems like a great person. So what's his problem?

I hate to admit it, but it does bother me a little bit that Zuko was willing to light up those lanterns for this girl after getting so upset with uncle for heating his tea. He could've gotten in a lot of trouble. I mean, him not giving her a chance is kinda relieving for me, but he had to like her a little bit for him to do such a big gesture, right? I don't know..

He holds his head up and gazes at me.

"Look," he starts with a sigh. "I'm- I'm not good at this."

"Good at what?" I ask.

"Talking to you!" He admits.

"Come on, we've been talking all this time. You can tell me anything," I tell him gently.

"Well...We've been friends for awhile now, and I like being around you. I guess I'm just confused. Should I look at you as my best friend, or more?"