You're Not Alone Zuko x Reader

=Chapter 21=

We were camping in a forest and Sokka was telling a scary story. I wasn't really paying attention. I was poking the fire we had made with a stick. I never noticed how much campfires smell like Zuko before. I tried to shake my thoughts of him away. I started listening when Katara started to tell her story.

"One winter when Mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, Mom noticed she hadn't seen her friend Nini since the storm. So Mom and some others went to check on Nini's family. When they got there, no one was home. Just a fire flickering in the fireplace. While the men went out to search, Mom stayed in the house. When she was alone, she heard a voice." She made her voice higher, "'It's so cold and I can't get warm!' Mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire. She was blue like she was frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but when everyone came back, Nini was gone."  

" Where'd she go?" Sokka asked.

"No one knows. Nini's house stands empty to this day, but sometimes, people see smoke coming up from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm." Katara said dramatically. 

Toph put her hand on the ground. "Wait! Guys, did you hear that? I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming." 

I rolled my eyes, "Nice try, Toph,"

"I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming." She insisted. 

"You're probably just jumpy from the ghost stories..." Katara said.

"It just...stopped." Toph moved her hand slightly. Katara, Aang, and Momo were still hugging out of fear while Sokka and I sat to the side. 

" All right, now I'm getting scared," Aang said. 

"Hello, children." I voice said from the darkness. We all screamed and ran over to toph. An old woman came out of the trees. "Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama. You children, shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?" 

"Yes, please," Sokka said sheepishly. Hama smiled. She took us to her house and told us that people have been disappearing in the woods during the full moon. Creepy... 

In the morning we went to town to do some shopping. Katara was head of us talking to Hama. We passed a small stand with jewelry and I saw a necklace just like the one I left with Zuko but instead of an emerald, it had a small ruby. I picked it up and traced the design with my finger. 

"That's a really pretty necklace, Y/n," Aang said. 

"Yeah...it is," I stared at it. 

"You should get it!" Sokka said.

"I don't have any money," I frowned.

"I'll buy it for you! We have tons of money from those scams," Toph smiled.

"I don't want it that much..." I lied.

"She's lying," Toph took the necklace from my hand and bought it. "Here," She stuffed it in my hand. 

"Here let me help you," Aang said. I turned around and let him put it around my neck.

"Thanks, guys!" I smiled at them and we started walking again. We overheard some people talking about the mysterious disappearances. 

"People disappearing in the woods, weird stuff happening during full moons? This just reeks of Spirit World shenanigans," Sokka said. 

"I bet if we take a little walk around town, we'll find out what these people did to the environment to make the spirits mad," Aang replied.