The Two Of Us - An ALTA X Reader Fanfiction

Chapter Sixteen~ How We Vent

TW: excessive alcohol consumption

(AANG'S POV)

There were many times I had come to Zuko before. To discuss in private how we were going to move forward with mending the wounds left from the 100 year war, our various relationship issues, his fears of not being strong enough to be the Fire Lord and my own of not being worthy of being the Avatar, and many nights of just sharing a drink and laughing at his horrible retelling of Iroh's stories.

Tonight it felt no different, and as I sat on my cushion across from him at the table I watched him pour us each a glass of sake. He gently nudged mine closer to me, and I drained it immediately and pushed it back. A single raised brow was all the response I received before he downed his own and refilled our glasses, this time pushing the bottle into the middle so I could repair my own. I stared down at the clear liquid tempting me and sighed.

"I feel like it's my fault."

Zuko snorted, not so much amused by me, instead coughing a bit on his drink.

"Oh? And why is that."

I could hear in his tone that he knew exactly why. Enough nights getting 'fall-over blasted' together and spilling your deepest secrets and one just knows. But he was giving me the time to put words together and say it myself, get it out of my system. Internally I thanked him, downing my glass again, water bending a refill and collecting my thoughts.

"I knew. I knew that she goes into the Avatar state when she feels threatened or in danger, I knew that she and Katara didn't really get along, and I knew, even if only deep down, that not telling her what is happening would make her upset. I pushed her into this."

Zuko raised a brow again, this time in genuine question.

"What is happening Aang? You won't talk to any of us. I think now might be a good time to do so."

He finished his drink and I refilled it for him.

"To put it bluntly, a part of my soul is attached to hers. Yes?"

He nodded, sipping thoughtfully.

"Well it's trying to pull apart and come back to me. And according to Avatar Roku, if that happens it could...kill her. Rip her soul into pieces."

I downed my glass, slamming the cup onto the table and grabbing the bottle to take a swig directly from it, welcoming the growing spread of heat, pins and needles through my body.

"And the closer we are the more it tries to happen. The reason I freaked when she went nutso on Katara is because it hurt. When my soul tries to rip free from hers it hurts her, and I feel it through the link we share."

I mumbled into the bottle.

"Doesn't make it any easier to stay away now that I know what she tastes like."

A slam jolted me upright and I swayed a bit, looking up into Zukos eyes, which were surprisingly closer as he leaned over the table towards me, a bottle of Fire Nation whiskey suddenly in his other hand.

"Wait wait wait. Wait. What was that last bit?"

I could feel myself turn scarlet, and not from the alcohol currently overtaking my system. Zuko waggled his eyebrows, not moving an inch.

"We May have...done stuff. The day we left. Well, night."

Looking away I downed another drink as Zuko hooted, his cheeks as red as the whiskey he held. Both of us were lightweights and we knew it, but it's not like people can turn down the Avatar and the Fire Lord when they ask for a drink.

"About fucking time!"

I glared at him over my bottle.

"I had a vow! I'm a MONK, Zuko! I feel like I should be more ashamed of myself. I broke one of the last vows I had as a monk of the Air Nomads. It just..didn't seem like that big a deal anymore."

I sighed, closing my eyes and remembering how she looked back when she was happy with me. Cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling, hair mussed. The sweet taste of her skin, the sounds she made as I-

"HEY! EARTH TO THE AVATAR!"

I jumped as Zuko yelled at me, flushing again and taking another swig. He started laughing, falling to the side. I noticed his once full bottle was nearly empty and looked down at my own, with only a single gulp left. Finishing it I stood and wobbled over to his cart to grab another.

"Wat'er you yellin at me for?"

I grumbled, carefully lifting another full bottle of sake and one more whiskey, carrying them back over to the table. The room swayed as I walked and I watched Zuko laugh into the carpet, giggling in spite of myself.

"I'm tryna be all sad, and lonesum, and here ya are just hootin into yer floor without a care in the world!"

That only made Zuko laugh harder and I dropped beside him, picking up his abandoned bottle and shakily holding it to his mouth as he lay next to me.

"DRINK! I'll not be the only one swayin!"

Zuko laughed again, and opened his mouth to let me pour the last in. He sputtered a bit but swallowed and grinned stupidly up at me, taking the next bottle I handed him before struggling to open my own.

"Ya looked better with hair, dude. More intimidating. Now ya just look like a badger-mole."

I growled at him, blowing a bit of air bending into his face before bursting into laughter and falling beside him. We chuckled quietly and fell silent after a while, continuing to sip our second bottles and staring at the ceiling in silence.

"I love her."

I announced to the room. I could feel Zuko's eyes on me.

"After we..ya know..I told her I love her. I'm pretty sure I mean it."

Zuko sat upright, swaying before steadying himself and peering down at me with his good eye.

"You never said that to Katara."

I sighed, refusing to meet his stare.

"I know."