Chapter Text
“Please, Father. I only had the Fire Nation’s best interest at heart. I’m sorry I spoke out of turn!”
“You will fight for your honor.”
“I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son.”
“Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!”
“I won’t fight you.”
“You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher. ”
-
Zuko jolted awake. He was shaking. Breathing heavily. He’d had these nightmares for years, he should be used to them by now.. But that didn’t matter. He needed to prepare to leave for the North.
But he couldn’t get up. His heart was racing. He was panicking. Again .
He fully submerged himself in his blankets. He shoved a bit of blanket in his mouth to muffle his sobs. He dug his nails into his arm. He needed to distract himself. His uncle was sleeping right next to him, and Zuko really didn’t want to bother him.
Shit. Not now. Any time but now.. He thought.
It took him a few minutes for him to force himself to calm down. The tears eventually stopped, his eyes now a bit puffy from the crying. He stood, and wiped his eyes a last time.
During the chaos before the soldiers left, Iroh had retrieved some of Zuko’s things from his quarters. It was all in a trunk. He went over to the trunk and found some comfortable clothes to wear. A black fitted sweater, with a red juban on top of that, then a black sleeveless robe on top of that. He also wore some slightly baggy red pants, tucked into his boots. He began to go through the trunk, putting things he knew he would need for sure in a bag. Anything else could be left behind.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was so exhausted. He looked over to Iroh. He was snoring so loudly. If the nightmare hadn’t woken Zuko up, Iroh’s snoring definitely would. He sighed.
It’s early, Zuko thought. ..I guess I can get a bit more sleep before everybody else wakes up.
-
Zuko stretched as he exited the room he slept in. He looked around. Aang, Sokka, and Katara were standing nearby, talking.
This was the first time Zuko had seen Sokka without the war paint.. He blushed a bit.
Woah. Why’s he kinda.. He couldn’t finish his sentence in his head. Wait- Shit, no- He shook his head to try and snap himself out of it. He felt his face cool down. Iroh came out of the room, and stood next to Zuko.
“You alright, Zuko?” Iroh asked.
Zuko looked down at Iroh. “Huh? Uh, yeah, why?”
He chuckled. “You just seemed a bit.. Lost in thought.”
“Uh.. yeah.”
It was silent for a moment. Awkwardly silent.
“..Should we go over there with the rest?” Zuko asked.
Iroh shrugged. “Sure.”
They walked over to everyone else. Aang gave them a big smile and waved, Katara looked them up and down then avoided eye contact. Sokka just waved a bit. Zuko smiled a bit and waved back.
“So.. what’s the game plan?” Sokka asked.
“We’ll load our stuff onto Appa, then we’ll leave soon after.” Aang replied.
“Hm? Who’s Appa?” Zuko asked.
“He’s my sky bison!” Aang replied. “He should be right outside the village right now.”
Zuko nodded in response.
Everyone else carried on with their conversation. But Zuko wasn’t paying attention to anything anyone was saying. All he could pay attention to was Sokka. He couldn’t tell why, though.. He was subconsciously fidgeting with the cuff of his left sleeve. His mind was in a completely different place at the moment.
“Zuko? Zuuuuko. Earth to Zukooo..”
Zuko blinked at the hand waving in front of his face. “I- Huh?” He looked down to see that Aang was the one trying to get his attention.
“Go get your stuff, we’re packing right now!” Aang exclaimed, with his usual wide, goofy grin. “We’ll be right outside the village.”
“Alright.” He turned to go get his bag. When he got it, he exited the village to see a huge creature. It had six legs, horns, and arrows similar to Aang’s along its body. He couldn’t help but feel a bit.. Intimidated.
Aang noticed that Zuko had arrived. “Want me to help you get your bag up there?”
“Uh, sure.. I guess?”
As Aang took Zuko’s bag and hoisted it up onto Appa’s back, Zuko couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about how awkward that was. He’s been awkward this whole time . He tried to think of what Iroh would tell him. Being awkward is okay, it happens to everyone at some point. ..Or, something like that.
He leaned against the icy walls of the village. He watched the others as they loaded their stuff onto Appa. Aang was hugging Appa and saying a few things to him. Katara was securing everyone’s things onto the saddle. Iroh was making sure he didn’t forget anything. Sokka was bugging Katara.
..Zuko wondered what it was like. To have a good relationship with a sibling. To have a sister that wasn’t fucked in the head.
..It seemed nice.
So
nice.