you and zuko used to be best friends, but now you can’t stand to be near him.
word count: 4.2k (probably one of the longest things i’ve ever written)
warnings: friends to emenies to lovers, nothing else i don’t think!
a/n: i wrote this for nyx @zukochi because i love her very much. this took me like 4 days and i need to stop looking at it so we’re just gonna post and forget it. anyway nyx you’re my favorite and i hope you enjoy (she’s fully already read it.)
“What the hell is he doing here?” you yell, dropping the firewood you held in your arms. Seeing his face made your chest hurt.
“He was just leaving,” Katara says, her face stern as she turns back to him.
Zuko looks at you, and the rest of the word goes fuzzy. Tunnel vision, and not the first time he’s given it to you. For a second, all the anger melts away. Your new friends are still speaking, and Zuko’s talking back, his eyes not leaving yours, but you can’t hear a word anyone’s saying.
You and Zuko used to be friends. Good ones, too. He used to sneak you into the palace at night so you could feed the turtle ducks. You would lay with your backs on the grass, cheeks barely pressed together, creating your own constellations in the stars. You would hide in the bushes when his mom came looking for him, but she always knew you were there, and she never cared.
You push away the memories, he doesn’t deserve the good ones anymore.
“You need to leave,” you say calmly, trying to save face. Your friends look back at you as you pick up the firewood you’ve dropped.
“y/n,” Zuko starts, his face pleading.
“No,” you say firmly, standing up to step closer to me. “You don’t get to do that to me.” Your eyes start to well up. He notices. You reach up to wipe away a tear that’s fallen. “Go,” you say, turning your back to him.
You hear him start to shuffle away as you brush past your friends, disappearing into the halls of the air temple.
Sokka finds you not long after. “So what was that all about?” he asks, sinking to the floor next to you.
You sigh. “I don’t think I want to talk about it,” you say. You try your best to keep your voice from cracking. “He’s gone, right?” you ask.
Sokka nods. “Yeah, he left right after you did.”
You press your lips together, closing your eyes. “I’m so angry at him,” you say under your breath. You wipe another tear off your face. “I don’t know why I’m crying,” you say, letting out a breathy laugh.
Your friends knew that you had known Zuko back when you lived in the fire nation. You had gone to the fire nation academy together, that was no secret. They didn’t know how close you had been, though, and you didn’t intend on telling them. It didn’t seem all that important, until the scene you’d just made. Until he’d decided he was “good”.
Despite Zuko being the prince, you had always resented the war. You knew it was immoral and wrong. The two of you had gotten in countless fights over this. You’d try to explain that Zuko didn’t know any better, he’d try to explain why the fire nation’s rule was destiny. When he came back as the prince after three years of being banished, having learned nothing, you were so angry that you ran away, in search of the avatar, to teach him the little firebending you knew. You weren’t a terribly qualified teacher, not nearly as good as Zuko or Azula, but you knew that the basics were better than nothing.
But you also knew he needed a better teacher, a stronger teacher.
“I shouldn’t have told him to leave,” you say to Sokka, cutting through the silence.
“What do you mean?” he asks. “No one even wants him here.” He looks at you, an incredulous look on his face.
“Aang needs a firebending teacher,” you say, “a good one. I didn’t learn enough to be that for him.” You sigh. “We’re gonna need him.”
Sokka stands now, confused, and a little angry. “Why should we trust him?” he says. “And why are you suddenly on his side? Don’t you hate him?”
You stand to match his height. “Of course I hate him, Sokka!” You think deep down that’s a lie, and it hurts a little bit to say. “But Aang needs to learn firebending if we’re gonna stand a chance of winning this war, and Zuko may be the only one who can teach him.” Sokka huffs.
You’re not sure if you’re saying all this because you want Aang to learn firebending, or if you want a chance to yell at Zuko, amongst other things. Either way, you’re gonna pretend it’s the former.