The Fire Within - an atla fanfic (Zuko x OC)

Now He's Dead

I woke up with a small gasp and closed my eyes tight as I laid in bed. I heard shuffling next to me and I lazily opened my eyes to see Zuko sitting right next to my bed. "What the fucK, Zuko? Where you watching me sleep? You scared me." I basically yelled as I pulled my sheets close to me.

Zuko shook his head sheepishly. "No, I just came in. Uncle wanted me to bring you some tea." He explained, gesturing to a cup sitting next to me.

I nodded and picked up the cup, taking a sip of the cold liquid. "Wow, this must of cooled down quickly." I commented.

Zuko grabbed it from me and started heating it up with his hands. "I guess Uncle didn't heat it up enough." He handed the hot cup back to me and I smiled slightly.

It was pretty obvious that Zuko was lying and actually had just been sitting there for a while but I didn't really mind. I continued to sip the tea gingerly. "Why are you here?" I said in between sips. "It's unlike you to sit patiently for something."

Zuko looked closer at me, as though inspecting me. "Don't you remember?" He questioned.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to recall what had happened the previous night. I placed my cup down and sighed as I put my hands in my face with embarrassment. "Yeah, I remember." I mumbled. I tried thinking of a reason that would make Zuko feel as though everything last night wasn't important, but I came up short. It was important. I opened my mouth, trying to respond, but Zuko silenced me.

"It's going to be okay, Ashley, Uncle and I are here to help." Zuko confirmed.

I sighed and lifted my hands from my face. "I don't need help, Zuko. Trust me, I'm fine. I was probably just over exaggerating last night."

"It didn't really seem like an over exaggeration." Zuko replied. "I don't think you would have said the things you said unless you really meant it."
He added.

I sighed again. "I already told you, Zuko, I'm perfectly fine, I promise." I tried to say as convincingly as possible. I got out of bed and stretched, then walked over to my mirror. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and couldn't help but notice that Zuko was staring at me. "Zuko, stop staring at me, I'm not a cripple."

Zuko looked a moment longer and then blinked and looked away.

I rolled my eyes slightly and then looked down at my clothes, disappointed. "I didn't put on my pajamas last night." I kept looking in the mirror and began fixing my hair. "The ink is starting to fade." I added, not particularly to either myself or Zuko.

"Maybe it's better that way." Zuko responded. "Remember what happened when you dyed it last time?"

I turned to look at him. "No, I don't recall." I said sarcastically.

"You punched a mirror and lost a kidney," Zuko explained with concern.

"Yeah, I know, Sherlock. I was being sarcastic."

Zuko looked down as if he felt dumb with the previous statement he said.

I frowned. "I hope that didn't come across as rude. I didn't mean for it to."

Zuko shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

I smiled slightly and walked over to Zuko. "What's on the agenda for this week?"

"Nothing. We got to a port earlier, but we don't really know where the avatar is right now."

I huffed. "That's dumb." I replied. "What are we gonna do to pass the time?"

"Well, there is always music night in a few nights. Uncle might let you sing." Zuko said lightheartedly.

I smiled and sat down. "I don't know, I think you are the one who should sing."