*Teaser Limerence ch. 37*
I didn’t hear Aang’s footsteps. The sound of my heartbeat racing as blood rushed to my head triumphing. It was like thunder roaring from the very depths of my soul, my mind feeling numb.
Aang’s pink lips moved soundlessly, unable to make out or understand his words. My vision...it’s blurry? As if I was trying to see him from underwater. Image distorted, bloated, as my shoulders dropped.
My cheeks felt wet, chest crushing and struggling to take a single breath. I was trembling like a leaf. The shadow I cast from under the candlelight seemed so tiny - like a child. I felt small and helpless and weak.
A sense of dread, defeat, overcoming me.
I feel useless.
From the first time I heard the news, it was like it never hit me. The weight of the doctors’ words, even the conversation with the others, didn’t feel real. It was like knowing the truth, and while no one denied it, it was like no one acknowledged it.
But I swallowed hard, trying to contain whatever piece of sanity I had left because I was lying to myself. We were in complete and utter denial, no matter how you look at it. But tonight- fuck.
Tonight.
It was like I was reliving the moment. The truth that I always knew suddenly became real. I could feel my stomach twist, bile rising—a reality check.
No one entirely took in what was happening until now. All this time, it was being brushed under the rug. Mentioned in passing, known to be serious, but it felt like a lie for some odd reason.
Team Avatar. Untouchable, unbeatable...but not this time.
“She’s going to die...and I can’t imagine a life without her.” I finally broke.
I can’t remember the last time I sobbed like this. The last time I felt so drained as I wailed like a newborn, hunched into my frame because it hurt. It felt like someone had my heart in their hand, clenching to the point that I couldn’t open my eyes because it was too painful.
Yue went on every day with her cheery smile as if everything was okay. She spoke about the future like it was just a skip away. But that wasn’t true. She was slowly but surely slipping from my grasp, trying to hold onto her with the tips of my fingers.
I was losing her, and I knew it- I saw it.
Her fevers, her dizzy spells, ‘I’m just a bit tired, Zuko. I need a bit more rest; I promise~!’ I clenched my jaw, wanting to stop this stupid crying- but I couldn’t. My hands were stumbling over my face, my hair falling forward as I silently cried.
“I’m so sorry, Zuko.” a voice softly spoke in front of me, Aang’s tone low and pained.
I felt like a fool.
The great Fire Lord, broken.
A pair of arms fell over my shoulder, pulling me close, feeling his soft robes brush my skin. Aang’s embrace was tender, and I let my body slip into his. I couldn’t do it anymore.
I bawled into his shoulder.
All my fears emerged and turned into an uncontrollable wildfire. Dirtying Aang’s mustard-coloured robes as my tears freely dripped down my face. My cheeks hurt, my throat burned, and my eyes felt puffy.
“I’m so scared, Aang,” I confessed, my voice wavering. All this money, this power and it meant nothing if she wasn’t by my side, “I want her, Aang.”
I was a mess; I felt like it too.
Losing someone wasn’t a one-time thing, no. I saw the pained look on Axe’s face. And it was evident that the pain of losing the one you love was an experience that you go through every day.
The thought of waking up and not seeing Yue’s drooling figure. To have my tea without the smell of one of her cookies. Not being able to see her taking a stroll in the gardens during my breaks. To eat lunch and dinner alone. To go to sleep in an empty bed only to do that every day for the rest of my life.
Losing someone wasn’t a one-time deal. You lose them again...and again...and again.
“I can’t lose her, Aang.” I struggled, “I-If I lose her, it means losing the family we never got to have. It means losing a part of me.”
“W-we’re going to figure something out, Zuko.”
I hope so because I can’t lose Ying Yue. She’s home...she’s my home.