BUTTERFLIES! ━ prince zuko

𝖛. Akiara Plummets To

𝖆𝖐𝖎𝖆𝖗𝖆 𝖕𝖑𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖘 𝖙𝖔
akiara plummets to
volume ii, chapter v

( her death )

❄️🦋💦

         IT'S THE NEXT NIGHT that they make camp in the great outdoors, night falling quickly as the skies turn a silky onyx that blazes with the stars. Aang's nestled against Appa's thick, white fur, his eyes shut as his breathing evens. Toph's tucked away within a tent she made of rock, yet her snores are very audible. Katara and Sokka have burrowed deep within their own tent and though they'd been whispering between themselves at first, they've long since fallen quiet.

Of course, Akiara's awake.

(Shocking, she knows.)

But, hey! It's not her fault that her mind is as tangled as the constellations that seethe in the dark. It's not her fault that she has as many thoughts as there are stars in the sky. It's not her fault that sees Yue in the silvery gleam of the moon, it's not her fault that she feels tethered to it.

During the day, it's easy to be pretend happy.

There's just so much to do. Daylight brings a plethora of distractions. Water bending training, helping the Avatar on his journey to master the four elements, fighting bad guys, shopping, hanging out with her friends. Everything is so loud and Akiara gets so caught up in it that she really does feel happy. For a little while, anyway.

But at night it's quiet.

Too quiet.

And she misses Yue. Oh, she misses Yue so much that it hurts. During the day, Yue's absence is a dull ache that pulsates softly at the bottom of her heart, but night is when it roars to life, angry and seething, demanding to be felt.

Sokka begins to snore.

OK, no more depression for me, she decides. Sleepy time. Night-night.

     She turns over onto her right. Appa grumbles in his sleep. She flips her pillow over to the cooler side. She forces herself to close her eyes.

Then she thinks of Zuko.

"Are you kidding me?" Akiara practically shrieks as her eyes snap back open because what the fuck? First Yue and now that asshole?

"No, I'm Aang."

     Akiara jerks up. Aang's eyes are hardly even open as he blinks blearily, vaguely in her direction. He seems half-asleep as he whispers his words before his mouth stretches into a wide yawn.

    She winces. "Not you, sorry."

     "Appa, then?" He asks but he's already shifting away from her, his voice drifting off into the clouds. "But Appa's a good boy... "

     Akiara flops back into her sleeping bag, feeling worse because great, she woke up Aang. Then she gazes tiredly at Kiko, whose lifted his sleepy head off from her chest to tilt his head in befuddlement.