Chapter Text
Zuko’s leg was bouncing beneath the desk in his study. It was much too late for him to be awake still, considering the amount of work he already had piled up for the next day. Following his coronation and the party that his friends insisted on planning, he had shut himself in his office to get a head start on his new responsibilities. His eyes were already burning from all the reading he had done and he very badly wanted to shut his eyes, but he promised himself that he would get through at least a quarter of the tall stack of paperwork sitting on his desk.
But maybe he could give in to the drowsiness for a few minutes. His eyelids began to feel heavier and as he shut his eyes, a voice said, “Fire Lord Zuko…”
He inhaled and straightened himself up in his seat and had to squint to properly see the face of the person who had called on him in the dimly lit room. He hadn’t heard her come in. “Suki.”
“Are you about done here?”
“Not really, no.”
She hummed, leaning against the door frame. “Don’t you think it’s been a long day?”
Zuko knew what she was trying to do and he let out a frustrated huff. It was true that he really was tired, but he wanted to get some of his work out of the way. When he had woken up in the morning to get ready for his coronation, he was shown to the palace’s study, where there were already a number of matters he needed to address. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to focus on it all much throughout the day due to preparations for the ceremony, he told himself that he would work on them when he could after the fact. He wasn’t about to stop when he was close to getting through the batch he had promised himself no matter how overcome with fatigue he was.
“It has been,” he responded, putting down his plume. “It has been and I think you should get some rest. You’ve been on your feet all day.”
“Me? I’m fine, Fire Lord Zuko,” she said with a small laugh as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I think it’s you who needs the rest.”
“I’m fine. I’m awake.”
“Oh, okay. Is that why you were about to dip your face into the ink instead of your quill?”
Zuko felt his cheeks redden at that. How long had she been watching him? He should have made sure to light the torches by the entrance of the study. He’d been so concentrated on what he was doing – and also so tired – that he hadn’t heard or seen her come in. “I’m fine, Suki. Now, will you please leave so I can finish out what I’m doing?”
She pushed herself off the door frame and gave him a short nod. Before leaving, though, she said, “Please sleep soon, Zuko. You need your rest.”
He pursed his lips at her use of his name without the honorific; he appreciated it. In fact, he had told her and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors time and time again to just call him by his name – they were all his friends after all. But they never did; Suki never did, only when she was being real. “I will.”
With another nod, she turned and looked over her shoulder. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”
Zuko let out a low laugh. “I won’t.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Well, I’ll still be right outside.”
“Right outside?”
“Mhm.”
“Noted.”
Suki snickered and finally left the study, closing the door behind her. Running a hand down his face and cracking his knuckles, he sighed slowly and got back to work, making sure to not do more than he had to.