TOMOKO - burning gold. (atla)

t w o | CHANGE

"ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴏɴᴇ ᴅᴏᴏʀ ᴏꜰ ʜᴀᴘᴘɪɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴄʟᴏꜱᴇꜱ, ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴏᴘᴇɴꜱ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴏꜰᴛᴇɴ ᴡᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ꜱᴏ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʟᴏꜱᴇᴅ ᴅᴏᴏʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴏᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴜꜱ."-ʜᴇʟᴇɴ ᴋᴇʟʟᴇʀ

ten years ago

TOMOKO LOOKED UP at the familiar palace walls. The towering sight made her feel dwarfed and she felt butterflies within her stomach. This was to be her new home. She gripped Iroh's hand tightly as they walked up the steps and through the grand gates, crimson red painted across every surface and beautiful bright gold accents dotting across the architecture.

When they entered servants bowed to them. There were a lot more servants here than at her home, Tomoko observed.

This was the beginning of a new life, one Tomoko wasn't sure to expect of. She moved closer to Iroh's side, and looked up at him. The man looked down at her with a reassuring look, and gave her a warm smile.

"I know this change is big and scary, Tomoko. But if you trust me, I promise that I'll always take care of you. You have my word."

-

Tomoko sat on the floor with her back leaning against the bed. She had been led to her room, and she had been told that she could have all the time she needed to adjust to her new surroundings and that a servant would come and get her for dinner. Because Iroh was now her guardian, arrangements had been made for her room to be close to his in the East wing of the palace.

Her eyes gazed around. Ornate tiles were beneath her pointed shoes, and large pillars lined the perimeter of the room. It wasn't any bigger nor smaller than her room at her own home, the difference being she had a very large window the size of a wall that looked out to the courtyard. Below, she could see the hustle and bustle of servants as they walked along the pathways, along with the occasional officials. A small pond was below her, and she spotted a group of turtle ducks: a mother and her babies.

Her eyes stayed on the mother turtle duck, and she watched as what she assumed to be the father waddled over to the family. They all swam away together and a weird feeling pitted itself into Tomoko's chest.

She sat there for what felt like hours, just staring out the window. Sometimes thinking, other times just watching contently as others went about their day.

"What'cha doing Tomoko?" A voice came from behind her.

The girl screamed, startled by the sudden voice in her ear. She quickly stumbled to her fear and whipped her head around, coming face to face with the seven-year-old Fire Prince, and her only friend.

"Agni, Zuko!" Tomoko exclaimed. "You scared me!"

The boy gave her a guilty look before giggling. Tomoko breathed heavily before a smile cracked on her face. "What're you doing here, doofus?"

Zuko squinted at her in fake annoyance before he gave her a soft push. "I came to check on you. See how you're doing."

Tomoko's smile slowly disappeared. She gave a heavy sigh before looking out the window again. "Alright, I guess. My feet hurt from walking so much. The palace is so big."

Zuko nodded in response. "Do you like your room?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's great." She replied. "I'm lucky that it's got such a big window, and that it's close to Uncle."

Zuko nodded again, taking in her words. On the surface she sounded grateful and cheery, but he could sense the sadness in her voice.

"We'll, what's even better is my room is across the courtyard. I know the servants' passage ways, so if you ever want to hangout I could show you the short cut." He pointed to his room diagonally adjacent from the courtyard Tomoko's room overlooked.

"I'd like that, Zuko."

A silence fell between the two friends.

"Oko?" Zuko put his arm on her shoulder.

"Yeah Zuko?"

"If you ever need someone to talk to, someone who knows... I'm here." He said, his eyes looking straight into hers.

Tomoko felt a rush of warmth fill her chest as she heard the words from her best friend. Before she could even reply, Zuko pulled her into a hug and held her tight. Tomoko immediately responded with her arms wrapped around the boy in front of her, who had an inch on her in height. A small sob escaped her as she buried her face into Zuko's shoulder, and she managed out a small reply.

"Thank you, Zuko."