Fuel To My Fire - Book Two (ATLA Zuko Fanfiction)

Chapter Fourteen

AN: The above video is not mine and I don't take credit for it, this is just how I imagine their dance to be :)

*****

Sakari's POV

Zuko and I arrived at the theatre early the next morning and were met by a happy Cho.

"Ah, Jade! You're here!" He announced. "And this must be your partner."

"Yeah, this is Lee." I said, introducing Zuko.

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you." Cho said, shaking Zuko's hand. "Your costumes are back here."

"You didn't say anything about costumes." Zuko whispered to me as we followed Cho.

"I didn't know." I replied.

"Now, before we teach you the dance, I do have a couple of questions." Cho said, handing me a white dress off a rack.

"Ask away." I said happily.

"Can you both do a backflip?" He asked, handing Zuko a white shirt and black pants.

"Yeah, is that gonna be in the dance?" I asked.

"There is one backflip in the choreography, yes." Cho stated. "Now, Lee, can you lift Jade easily?"

"Quite easily." Zuko stated, grabbing me around the waist and lifting me onto his shoulder.

"Excellent! Change into your costumes and meet me on the stage." Cho said, leaving us in the dressing room.

"Turn around, hothead." I told Zuko.

He turned away from me and let me get changed. The dress was light, quite easy to move in, perfect for dancing I suppose. After I got changed, I made my way out to the stage, leaving Zuko to change into his costume. Cho was waiting at the front of the stage, watching a large group of people performing on it, they were really good!

"So, what kind of show is this anyway?" I asked Cho as I came to stand next to him.

"It's just for a bit of fun, I've got a couple of bands that will be playing, a few dance acts, a magician, and a comedian." Cho explained, keeping his eyes on the stage.

Zuko emerged from backstage, just as the group finished their routine, and he was looking rather dashing in his costume.

"Oh! Excellent! Now you look like a real duo!" Cho said excitedly. "Alright, let's get you on the stage."

Cho basically pushed us up onto the stage and got us into the positions he wanted us to start in. He had me sitting on the floor with my knees to my chest and my head down, Zuko was standing behind me. Cho wanted him to walk up to me and kneel beside me, before lifting me to my feet. We were practicing without music for a start, just trying to get all the steps right, and we only had about a week to learn. We practiced for hours! Until we were able to start practicing the first few moves with music. The song was called Waves and it sounded beautiful, although I think I might get sick of hearing it by the end of the week. The music began playing and Zuko came up behind me, grabbing me under my shoulders and lifting me to my feet. He then laid down on his back with his feet up, supporting my weight as I leant backwards, and he held me up by my shoulders. It was a weird feeling, doing a handstand without my hands actually touching the ground. Once I was straight up we both kicked our legs in a bicycle motion before I landed back down on my feet, then Zuko put his arms around my waist and flipped me so that my stomach was resting on his shoulder. He crossed the stage as I held out my arm, like I was reaching for something, and then I flipped around in a couple of motions so that he was now holding me bridal style.

"Excellent!" Cho clapped from the front. "We'll pick it up here tomorrow."

*****

"Did you have a good day?" Iroh asked us when we got home that night.

"It was really fun!" I said happily, bouncing around the room.

"It was ok." Zuko said, trying to stop me from bouncing.

"Oh, come on! You enjoyed yourself!" I said, poking him in the chest. "Imagine how great it's gonna be on the weekend when everyone gets to come and watch!"

"We have to wear makeup." Zuko complained to Iroh.

"Oh, that's nice." Iroh said, trying not to laugh.

"It's just a bit of stage makeup." I stated, rolling my eyes at Zuko. "So that no one will recognise us outside of the show."

"It's still makeup." Zuko grumbled.

"Would you rather be talked to by everyone that comes to the show?" I asked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow.

"No." Zuko sighed.

"Exactly! So, cheer up! It'll be fun!" I said, shoving him playfully.

*****

The day of the show came and Zuko and I were waiting for our turn to go on, Cho was saving us for last to close the show. I was getting my makeup done by one of the stage crew, watching Zuko pout in the chair across from me.

"Cheer up, hothead." I said, laughing at him. "It's almost over."

Cho suddenly appeared backstage, holding his clipboard.

"Jade and Lee!" He called.

We waved at him to get his attention and he made his way over to us, smiling from ear to ear.

"You two are on next." He said before walking away again.

After my makeup was done, I went to the side stage, preparing myself to go on, Zuko came to stand next to me a few moments later.

"You look nervous." Zuko stated, making me realise that I was fiddling with my necklace.

"Only a little bit." I chuckled, letting my arm fall to my side.

The act before us finished and the curtains closed, it was time for us to go on. We ran out and got into our positions, me sitting on the floor and Zuko behind me. The curtains opened again, and the music began playing. We began the choreography and flowed through the motions easily, Zuko spun me onto his shoulder and walked across the stage with me. Then I flipped around and landed in his arms bridal style, he then let one of my legs drop for a moment before picking me up again and spinning me around. I landed on my feet in front of Zuko, his hands still on my waist, then we did a couple of jerky movements, to match the tune of the song, and we ended in a position where I was pretty much squatting and he was holding me under my arms. Then I pushed off from him, did a flip and landed on my knee with my arm outstretched, while he did a side flip thing behind me. Zuko then lifted me up, pulling me around him and using my back to lift himself into the air, doing a flip over me. I was then lifted into Zuko's arms again and made a wave-like motion with my body and flowed down to the floor only to be lifted again and supported by my arm as I did a flip. I then did a little twirl as he did a flip, and I stopped and stared into the crowd as I waited to feel Zuko's hand on my arm. I noticed Iroh sitting in the crowd, smiling wide at us. We then danced in sync together, using each other to fling ourselves around the stage, then Zuko pulled me by my arm and I leaped off the floor and landed with my feet on his shoulders. We stayed still for a moment before I jumped into his arms and he spun me around himself, I landed on my feet again and we danced in sync a little more, before grabbing each other's hand using our momentum to spin each other around on the floor. We did some more in sync dancing before running to the other side of the stage and doing a cartwheel into a back flip, it was a lot of effort! Then Zuko lifted me up to sit on his shoulder and he walked towards the back of the stage as the curtains closed behind us. The crowd went wild, cheering for us on the other side of the curtains, causing a huge smile to appear on my face.

"That was amazing!" Cho yelled as we approached him.

"Ah! Thanks." I squealed, bouncing around next to Zuko. "Wasn't that fun?!"

"Yeah, I'll admit it, it was fun." Zuko said, giving in and cracking a smile.

I laughed and pulled him in for a kiss that lasted a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I smiled happily as I pulled away, throwing my arms around him in a hug as he spun me around. I hope our lives can stay like this forever.