Fan the Flame (Zuko X Reader)

Lake Laogai

                                                                                      Zuko's POV

  "Zuko, are you alright? It looks like something's on your mind." Iroh asked. I scrubbed away at one of the tea spoons before rinsing it off. 

  "I'm fine, uncle." I replied as nonchalantly as I could muster. The truth was it had been a week since I'd seen (Y/N), and I was starting to get worried. The night after Jet and I's fight I went to the university in hopes that I'd see her there, but she was nowhere to be found. At first I brushed it off thinking maybe she had forgot. Since then I had gone every night to our meeting spot and to my dismay she hadn't shown up once.

 "Alright, if you say so." Uncle said. "Why don't you take this tea out to the young man sitting in the corner?" I obliged, picking up the tea and walking out of the kitchen. 

 "Psst!" I heard someone say. I ignored it, assuming that it was for someone else. "Hey, Zuko!" someone from behind me said in a hushed yell. Never mind, that was definitely for me. I turned around to face that earth bender girl that (Y/N) is friends with. 

"Don't call me that here!" I whisper shouted. "It's Lee. Got it?"

"Alright, geez." She raised her hands in defence. "Listen, Lee, Name's Toph. I know about you and (Y/N)." 

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I lied. How would she know anyways? She's probably just bluffing. 

"Don't play dumb with me, Sparky. She told me." She said blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "The reason why I'm here, and I'm sure you're already well aware, is that (Y/N) has been missing for a week now. Last time I saw her she was about to meet up with you, and she didn't come back."

"If you think I had something to do with her disappearance, I swear to you that I didn't." I told her, keeping my voice low. "I went to meet up with her that night, and she wasn't there."

 "Don't worry, I trust you. I can tell when people are lying and you are being honest." She poked my chest. I sighed, relieved.

 "So what do we do?" I asked. "She's obviously in trouble."

 "I say we team up, you and me." She suggested. "The other three are already looking for (Y/N), and seeing as you know her you can be of good help." She held out her hand. "What do you say? This will stay between you and me, by the way." I didn't exactly trust her, but this wasn't about me, this was about finding (Y/N). I shook her hand. 

"I'll do it." she smiled.

"Music to my ears, Sparky. Let's get a move on, then."

_____________________________________________________________

 Toph and I sat against a wall in the market place. We had been searching for hours, going to every place where (Y/N) could possibly be. We even went to her childhood home thinking that maybe she'd gone to visit them, but she wasn't there. We were stumped and tired with no lead to go off of. 

 "You got any other ideas?" I asked Toph. She responded with an exhausted head shake. I tried to think of where she could possibly be, reflecting on the night she went missing. I remembered my fight with Jet and how he was sure that (Y/N) was working with me. He was acting like a lunatic, no wonder the Dai Li took him in for questioning. And then it hit me.

"Maybe she was taken by the Dai Li." I said.

"Why would they do that?" Toph said half-heartedly.

"Before Jet was taken he kept saying that (Y/N) knew my uncle and I were firebenders. The Dai Li could have found her suspicious and arrested her." Toph's face lit up.

"You're right!" She exclaimed. "Nice thinking, Sparky."

"Yeah. Good job, Sparky." A voice said from beside me. I turned my head meeting Jet's smirking face. I stood up, holding my fists out in front of me.

"Relax I'm not here to fight you." He said. "I was taken by the Dai Li as well, and I know where their secret base is." He whispered. I dropped my fists. 

"You do?"

"I think he does, Sparky. He's not lying." Toph said.

"At first I had no memory of the secret base, I was brainwashed. That was until I ran into the rest of your friends and Katara helped to restore my memory." Jet explained.

"So can you help us find (Y/N)?" I asked. As much as Jet got on my nerves so far he's proven himself useful. It wouldn't hurt to keep him around. Jet nodded in response.

"Follow me, you two." He started walking and motioned over to us. "We're headed to Lake Laogai." 

_______________________________________________________________________

                                                                               (Y/N)'s POV

  My eyes opened slowly as my head pounded with fatigue. The smell of old rusty metal flooded my senses, reminding me of where I was. I glanced over at the bars that kept me locked in this prison cell. I sat up cautiously, muscles sore from sleeping on the cold and dense prison floor. A sense of hopelessness filled my chest, one I hadn't felt since I was captured by Zuko. 

 "I see you're finally up." A voice said from ahead of me. Azula smirked at me from outside of my cell. I glared at the princess, only making her smile grow. "You know, you're quite pretty actually. I see why my disgraceful brother has taken a liking to you." A blue flame sprouted from her hand, fire dancing in her eyes as she watched.

 "I'm sure you've come to realize by now that no one, not even my brother, is coming to rescue you." She said matter-of-factly. "And trust me on this..." She stopped playing with her fire to stare directly at me. "If you even think about escaping, I won't hesitate to put an end to your meaningless, peasant life." Tears stung my eyes as I watched her leave. As much as I wanted to forget about it, to refuse to believe its true, I feared she may be right.