Chapter Text
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Zuko desperately missed the scorching weather in the Fire Nation. He distantly remembered sitting by the water with his mother, feeding the turtleducks, the sun beaming down on his face. It was a warmth that enveloped him, gentle, not scorching. It made him feel connected to the ancient source of their power. Like Agni itself was shining down on him.
Even as he grew older and had less of a place, much less a person, to call home, his respite would come from the sun’s gentle light.
The Earth Kingdom was milder, although it felt more stuffy. The air did not carry the subtle scent of smoke and blooming Fire Lilies. He could never feel truly comfortable here, surrounded by the menacing walls of Ba Sing Sae.
He felt like a caged bird, one that had never really known true freedom.
And he had a feeling he was certainly being watched. They had been very careful not to use any firebending, so Zuko knew that the attention did not come from any suspicion that they were firebenders
No, he knew it was his face.
Before he was 13, a time he only distantly remembered, people would say he looked like his mother. His father must have hated that, especially when people started saying that Zuko looked like him.
Maybe that’s why he aimed for the face. The sickening, scorching heat combined with his father’s triumphant smirk was something that haunted his nightmares to this day.
He opened his eyes, sick of feigning sleep. Uncle was snoring beside him, which meant it was probably safe to move. He lifted himself from the bed, bones cracking from disuse, and started making his way to the balcony. He tried his best to keep his steps light, but the creaky old floorboards were protesting his attempts. A particularly loud creak made Zuko stop, holding his breath as he gazed at his sleeping body in panic.
Uncle stirred, igniting a flicker of panic in Zuko, who continued staring, suspended in time. Fortunately, Uncle went back to snoring at his usual rhythm, allowing Zuko to release the breath he had been holding.
He moved with caution until he finally reached the door to the balcony.
You could hardly even call it a balcony, it was more of a little enclosed ledge hanging under a creaky old door.
He gently opened the door, breathing in deeply as he stepped outside. Ba Sing Sae was a bustling city, thrumming with noise and life, even in the middle of the night.
Zuko closed the door and leaned against the old railing. He shut his eyes, taking in the sounds of the city. He could hear raucous laughter and faint music around him. He slowly blinked his eyes open, tilting his neck upwards at the full moon.
It shone a gentle, pale blue light on his face. Where the sun was passionate and raging, the moon was calm and steadying.
The wind rushed, filling his body with a deep chill that sank to his bones. He hated the cold, as most firebenders tended to. It was the farthest from home, from Agni’s gentle glow that he could be.
Throughout his short time in Ba Sing Sae and the rest of the Earth Kingdom, he could feel his inner fire begin to waver, to flicker.
Though the moon and the sun were so different, he felt the most like himself than he had in years under the moon’s glow.
He kept staring at the distant celestial body, seconds quickly turning into minutes before he felt the sudden urge to talk.
Clearing his throat, he gathered his courage.
“So…” He began
“How’s it going up..there?” Fuck. This is so stupid.
Zuko lowered his head in defeat, letting his forehead rest on the cool metal railing. He took a deep breath before bracing himself to look back up at the moon.
“Im..glad you’re back,” He offered, quietly. He meant it.
That night in the North Pole was something Zuko never wanted to experience again.
He remembered the deep unease that had settled into his bones as he saw the full moon’s gentle light slip into darkness. The sight was unnatural, terrifying.
He couldn’t imagine losing access to the very celestial body that fuels his power. Though the flame inside of him felt no stronger than an ember right now, it reminded him of who he was, the gift he had been bestowed.
When his staring at the moon proved to be ineffective at clearing his mind, Zuko sighed deeply, running a hand across his face.
He tapped his fingers against the cool railing in an unsteady rhythm, gnawing at the inside of his cheek. Maybe he should just go back to bed.
As he turned around, the glint of his broadswords caught his eye. He didn’t know how he had managed to get past the walls with them, but he was glad for that little piece of home regardless.
He opened the balcony door slowly and crept his way to his swords, careful to avoid the creaky floorboard he stepped on earlier.
Next to the swords was his Dark Water Spirit mask. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. A very, very, very bad one.
He gnawed at his cheek again, before clutching the swords and mask quickly. He made his way to his clothes, picking out an all black ensemble.
It might’ve been the very same one he wore that fateful night when he first donned the Blue Spirit persona ... .and accidentally became wanted in the Fire Nation.
He dressed quickly and stepped outside again, gently placing his mask over his face.
He began to scout out where he would decide to go, before hearing a loud crash in a nearby building. He hopped over the railing and reached the ground in a graceful slide, dual swords rattling ever so slightly on his back.
The crashing he was hearing had only grown louder since he made his way to the ground. He spared one more glance up at the balcony before running off to the direction of the noise.
He was careful not to go through any main roads, keeping himself restricted to alleyways.
Zuko knew he was close now, he could distantly hear someone screaming from a nearby building. As he drew closer, he peeked through one of the windows. There were two people in there.
A tall girl was twirling a dagger in her left hand, as someone else scrambled to get away from it.
As Zuko squinted, he realized who that someone was. The water tribe boy.
The one with the annoying pitchy voice and the piercing blue eyes, who conveniently happened to be the Avatar’s best friend.
Zuko debated leaving, running back home and making this guy deal with his own problems.
He had long since given up his desperate, relentless search for the Avatar,but there was still a flicker of doubt within him. Maybe if he saved the water tribe boy now….
Zuko could not afford to think like this.
He turned his head away from the scene, ready to bolt, before ultimately deciding to turn back.
The water tribe boy was sweating, the beads dripping down his forehead, along the curve of his face.
Zuko swallowed dryly. Maybe he could be useful?
Sighing, he unsheathed his swords from behind him, kicking through the window and sending shards of glass all over the floor.
The girl looked at him quizzically, posture hunching as she gripped her dagger tighter in her calloused hand. Zuko raised an eyebrow at her, even though she couldn't see him.
The water tribe boy’s eyes were blown out wide, clearly expecting another threat. Zuko scoffed, quickly correcting himself into a proper sword fighting stance.
The girl snarled.
“Who are you?” she demanded
Zuko just shrugged, not willing to give her the satisfaction of a response.
That only seemed to make her more cocky.
“I don’t know what you think is going on here, but I assure you everything is just fine,” she squeezed out through gritted teeth. The water tribe boy attempted to escape behind her, but accidentally stepped on a creaky floorboard, alerting both her and Zuko’s attention towards him.
Zuko heard a faint muttered curse slip from the boy’s lips. Or, he assumed it was a curse. It wasn’t in a language that Zuko was familiar with.
His eyes were glued on Zuko, brows furrowed in confusion.
Zuko scoffed. He needed to prove he wasn’t a threat, then.
He turned his attention back to the girl, approaching her quickly and knocking the silver dagger out of her hands with a single swing of his blade. She was clearly inexperienced with a weapon.
Horror and understanding dawned on her face before she growled at Zuko one more time then fled the building they were in.
The water tribe boy was panting, staring at Zukko in awe, before going through a thousand emotions at once and furrowing his brows.
“You’re not here to kill me, are you?” He asked, laughing nervously as his voice trembled.
Zuko fought back the urge to laugh. Instead, he shook his head.
No.
The water tribe boy breathed a sigh of relief before bringing his hand up to his forehead and dragging it down his face.
“Holy shit,” he breathed out, smile apparent in his voice
“You totally just saved my ass there, man!” he exclaimed gleefully. Zuko swallowed, offering a small, stiff nod in return.
The boy’s smile faltered ever so slightly. “You don’t talk much, do you?”
Zuko shook his head.
“It’s okay, I can work with that!” He began. “I bet you’re wondering how I even got myself in this situation,” the boy said while scratching the back of his head nervously.
To be fair, Zuko was curious.
“Well, you see my friends and I were enjoying a lovely spring night in Ba Sing Sae when this very pretty girl approaches me. I may have gotten…a bit distracted,”
“And I.. hypothetically, of course, have absolutely no idea where my friends are.”
Zuko resisted the urge to face palm in that moment. This seemed extremely on brand for the water tribe boy, so he should've seen it coming from a mile away.
He scoffed instead.
“But, uh… thank you, seriously,” The boy said earnestly, “I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t burst through that window,”
He seemed to pause and think for a moment before bluntly pointing out that there was a door right next to the window.
Zuko felt his face flush in embarrassment. The boy chuckled.
“It’s fine man, it was really cool,” He stopped to put out his hand towards Zuko.
“My name’s Sokka, by the way!”
Zuko stared at his hand for a while. He took note of the dozens of small, pale scars scattered on the tan skin. Reluctantly, he took out his own hand. The boy, Sokka, eagerly took it in his own and shook it violently, smiling gleefully.
In the distance, Zuko could hear a decidedly female voice shouting something that sounded similar to Sokka. It had to be the waterbender. If she was close, the Avatar would be, too. The Avatar that most definitely knew what was hiding behind his mask.
He quickly untangled his hand from Sokka’s and nodded towards the shouting. Realization dawned on Sokka’s face.
He turned away to leave, before suddenly turning back.
“I’ll see you,” he mumbled.
Zuko really doubted that. One word of this encounter to the avatar and the jig was up, they’d know that he and his Uncle were in Ba Sing Sae. He couldn’t ruin this. Not after Uncle had worked so hard.
In lieu of a response, he nodded curtly and jumped back through the window he came in from. As he walked back through the alley, he fought back the urge to turn his head.
Reluctantly, he did turn, just to find no trace of the boy.
Agni, Zuko really needed some sleep. Hopefully Uncle hadn’t realized he ever left and he could forget this whole stupid encounter quickly.