Chapter Text
Zukos eyes hurt.
Everything was bright, loud, colourful.
The ground was completely grey and hard, the buildings were so much taller than he'd ever seen, metal carriages raced past him, faster than thought possible. To top it off, the clothes of the people walking by him were so bright, it gave him a headache.
In short, the prince was experiencing massive sensory overload.
Despite this, he was focused, taking in everything he could of this place. It looked like nothing he'd seen before, he didn't even know how to describe half of what he was seeing! He was on edge, sure that this couldn't be anything but good. A helicopter flew overhead and Zuko yelped, jumping backwards into a lady.
"Oh darling, are you ok?" She frowned, steadying them. "You need a drink? You're as white as a sheet!"
Zuko numbly accepted the water. He recognised this, at least, but the container was weird and squishy. Arrgh, why did everything in this world have to be so off????
Five minutes later he was sat on a bench, drinking the water as he tried to ground himself. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Deep breath in, deep breath out. There, he had a rhythm going, this was good. This had to be a dream. Or a hallucination. Had uncle used the wrong thing to make tea again? Zuko wouldn't put it past him, honestly. He was sure he'd wake up, and find everything back the way it should be. See, he was starting to feel calm again-
"TODOROKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Zuko startled at the loud voice to see a boy running his way. He had bright yellow hair, reminiscent of the sun. Zuko had never seen hair that colour. He was wearing unfamiliar clothes as well, grey with red and green. What nation was he from, then? He was getting closer, running towards Zuko and waving frantically.
In the time it took Zuko to turn around to see who he was addressing, the boy had caught up, and wrapped his arm over Zukos shoulders. In a normal circumstance, this would instantly trigger Zukos flight or fight-well, his fight. But the poor teen was so overwhelmed in all of this that all he actually did was whimper in a way most unlike him.
"Hey Bud!!!" The boy grinned, as if they were old friends. "I didn't know you came this way, we can walk to school together!" Zuko felt himself being led in a direction, and allowed it. His head was killing him, he didn't understand any of this.
"I love your hair" The boy continued. "Really trying to seperate yourself from your dad, huh? Good job, I'm proud of you! You need a rebellious streak!"
Zuko blinked. "You...know of the firelord?" He asked cautiously. Well, at least he knew that his father was still a constant presence in his life. Comforting. He attempted to continue with "So, what nation are you from?" But the boy hadn't finished talking.
"Sensei is gonna kill you for not wearing uniform! You don't usually break rules like this." Zuko felt his robes being slightly tugged on, and jerked back. "Sorry, sorry. But they're cool. Never seen you wear these before. What's with the change? Did something happen?"
Zuko tried to respond to that, perhaps "Who is Sensei?" "Who are you?" "This is what I always wear, what are you talking about?", or even "How dare you lay your hands on the prince of the fire nation?! Unhand me before I burn you where you stand."
"urh"
Brilliant, Zuko. Brilliant.
The boy continued. He talked an awful lot, and didn't seem to get tired. Zuko decided to just let him, zoning out as he attempted to make sense of any part of this. He let himself follow where he was led, though he wasn't convinced it was the best plan. Still, he was tired and confused, lost and...scared. He was scared. None of this made sense, none of it felt real.
He drifted back into reality as a hand waved in front of his face. "Todoroki? Are you ok? You've spaced out, and you don't look great. Shit. Hey, look at me"
The boy adjusted his grip, holding Zuko more firmly. "Ok, speeding up. We'll get you to Recovery Girl, ok? Don't worry, I gotcha" he reassured.
The tone was comforting. Apart from uncle, nobody spoke to him like that. Despite everything, Zuko was still a child, and the feeling of support and safety hit a hole in his heart he usually ignored.
They walked until they reached a giant building, massive even compared to all the others that Zuko had seen. It had an odd shape to it. His new "friend" led him inside, through massive hallways, until they reached a door labelled "1-A"
Zuko roughly recognised the inside as a school. Being a prince, he'd never been to one himself, but he still knew about them. This was a classroom. What he didn't recognise, however, were the things inside. Humanoid, but not quite. Bright hair, brighter than his companions even, scattered around. A girl with bright pink skin sat in the front row. A few rows back, a bird. A bird. An actual Bird.
He stayed conscious long enough to hear the boy speak again. "Sensi, just dropping in to get registered. I'm taking Todoroki to Recovery Girl, he's been acting strange, I'm really worried about him." At that point, his brain happily decided it was time to switch off for a bit, and he dropped to the ground with a thud.
In the second back row, a boy with two toned hair and the exact same scar stood up, and stared at the body on the floor.
"Denki. That is not me"