Work Text:
Zuko stared at Aang from outside his cell below the ship’s deck. They're approximately six days away from the Fire Nation Capital. Aang’s stomach turns at the sudden realization, it has been twenty-five days since Zuko has captured him and he has grown fond of the Prince’s presence in his tiny prison cell. They have shared intimate moments, and some days he finds the Prince lying next to him in the middle of the night, soundly asleep and breathing peacefully. Aang sighs and gets up from his chair, “Are you going to just stand there or are you going to come inside?”
He sounded discourteous, Aang didn’t mean to. But he was exhausted and being stuck in his diminutive cell did not help the suffocation he’s feeling. When Zuko opened the cell door and stepped in, he looked at Aang with apologetic eyes. He could almost hear Zuko’s unspoken words, his apologies, his confession, his cognizance. Aang simply takes his hand and places small and gentle kisses on Zuko’s fingertips, silently reassuring the Prince that everything will be alright.
“Would you like to..” Zuko started, staring intensely at Aang’s lips, “..come to the deck with me?”
Aang gasped at the question, shocked at how nonchalant Zuko suggested the activity. He smiled at the Prince as tears formed in his eyes, quietly asking, “Is this a test?”
The Prince laughed, the sound sending electricity down Aang’s spine. Zuko responds, “I trust you because..” He paused, holding his tongue from saying things he might regret later, he shakes his head and continues, “..because I just do.”
Zuko tugged at the airbender’s hand, leading him up to the deck of the ship. It seems that Zuko had planned to invite him out here all along because on the far end of the deck, Aang sees his glider perched on top of the crates. He was about to run off, however, a strong squeeze on his hand stopped him. Aang looked back at Zuko with a sad smile, “I’m sorry, I just got excited.”
“I know, I’m just.. Nervous, that’s all.” Zuko says as he lets go of Aang’s hand, “I said I trust you, and I do. I know you will always come back to me.”
With a nod from Zuko, Aang sprints to where his glider was, his bare feet feeling cold against the steel of the ship. He spends no time warming up, he whips his glider and soared through the clouds. Aang didn’t even notice how the sun burned his skin when he ascended to the sky, he took no notice of anything as he breathed in the salty and fresh air. Laughing as he passed through the mist, soaking his clothes. But Aang didn’t care. Realistically, he’s only been held captive for less than a month, it hasn’t been that long but his mind wandered around his friends. Katara, Sokka, Toph and Suki. Where are they now? Did they survive the Serpent’s Pass? That was the last time he saw them before he was captured by Zuko. The feeling of guilt buried deep inside him is now bubbling up, Aang has always thought he is responsible for his friend’s lives, and he left them alone, traveling through a deadly pass. But his friends are strong, surely they can survive without him. They might be in Ba Sing Se by now.
He flew as high up as he could until he could no longer see the Fire Nation ship below him, until he could no longer see Zuko. It’s as liberating as it is suffocating. He could fly away right now and spend his energy flying to the Earth Kingdom again, he could try to find his friends. Aang shakes his head and comes back to reality, he descends below the clouds just enough so Zuko can spot him and keep an eye on him. Reassuring the Prince that he’s here.
No matter how freeing this feeling of flying in the clouds is, he is still a prisoner. He can escape. He should escape, but something inside him, a mere whisper in his ears, telling him not to leave. Even if Aang knows that when they arrive at the Fire Nation, he will be offered to the Fire Lord as a reward, then Zuko will have his honor back, his home. But as he looked down, seeing Zuko smile warmly at him from his ship’s deck, trusting Aang that he would never stray too far and escape, the airbender can’t help but let a tear slip down from his eye to his cheek. The wetness immediately dried as he ascended further into the clouds, letting all his conflicted feelings plummet into the ocean below him. He thinks – there’s no reason for him to be falling in love with his captor like this.