#but when I pressed CTRL and V Word suddenly stopped working

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Art of Fire (V)

 Zuko x Fem!Reader; Part 5; 1.6k words 

Series summary: The recently crowned Fire Lord Zuko meets a new friend of his Uncle’s, a special fire bender that quickly grabs his interest over a cup of tea and the discussion of the arts.

A/N: I am so sorry for how long this update took! Most likely the last part :) thanks for reading my dudes <3

CATCH UP HERE: Part 1   Part 2   Part 3    Part 4

As you stood in front of the closed tea shop, hand in hand, you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing as Zuko looked sheepishly down at you.

“How did neither of us realize that my Uncle wouldn’t be here because he was running the Capital instead of me today?”

You began to laugh louder, shocked that you hadn’t even thought about his Uncle not working at the tea shop, even though Zuko told you this very morning that Iroh was stepping in as temporary Fire Lord for the day.

“Well, I guess we aren’t getting tea today!” You managed to say in between laughs, wiping away a few tears as he began to chuckle softly.

Suddenly, he looked up again, as tugged at your joined hands, pulling you to the side of the shop.

“If memory serves me right, my Uncle usually forgets to close up the side windows…” he said, as he looked down the alley and saw the open window of the tea shop, “And my memory is immaculate” He said with a cocky wink.

“I promised you tea, and that is what you’ll be getting. You’ll just find out that I am just as good as my Uncle when it comes to making tea.”

Offering his hands, you leaped up into the windowsill, as his fingers gripped your hips, helping you up. Your breath caught a little at the contact, the warmth of his palms something still so shocking yet calming at the same time.

After you were straddling the windowsill safely, you offered Zuko your hand. He jumped up, hand clasped tightly to yours as he made it to the window. However, neither of you had thought it through, and now you were both tightly tightly cramped into the windowsill, faces very close to each other.

You giggled lightly, making eye contact with Zuko’s shining golden eyes, before you meanuvered your way through Zuko’s long legs and managed to land onto the familiar tea shop floor, Zuko right behind you.

Looking at the shop, it was very weird to see it not open and full of people, but Zuko quickie led you to the back, to the kitchen and storage room.

Still in your damp clothes from swimming in the lake, Zuko started to look into some of the many boxes in the back, and began muttering, “We usually keep some spare clothes in the back, and I can’t seem to find them… Oh. Found some!” 

You chuckled lightly, watching as he pulled out a pair of pants and some shirts. He lifted two shirts up, “Okay you got two opinions, a very oversized tan shirt that I’m pretty sure is my Uncle’s or the tea shop uniform.”

“Oh my, what a decision I have to make” you said with a smirk, “I may have to pick the huge shirt, even if it will be like a dress on me, simply because I have to see you in the uniform. Iroh has told me too many stories of you at the Jasmine Dragon for me to pass up this opportunity!”

“Oh you cruel wicked thing” Zuko teased, before handing you the shirt.

The pair of you stood there for a couple of seconds, just shyly looking at each other. Suddenly Zuko moved into action, “Oh, sorry yeah I’ll uh turn around so you can change first.”

You grinned at his awkward behavior, still stunned by how the shy man in front of you actually ruled the Fire Nation. “Thank you Zuko.”

You quickly peeled off your damp clothes, the cold air sending a shiver through your body as you peeked at Zuko’s back, as he stared firmly at the wall.

You shrugged on the large shirt, reaching your mid thigh, and very loose on you. Looking down, you realized you didn’t need the pants, it quite literally was a dress on you.

Zuko still had his back turned, so with a small surge of courage, you walked behind him quietly, and suddenly pressed a kiss to his check. He tensed at the contact, before a large smile graced his face as he turned around.

“What was that for?” he asked.

You pulled away, rocking on your heels, the shirt flowing around your legs. “Did I need a reason besides simply wanting to?”

The fiercest blush crept over his cheeks, before grabbing his own new set of clothes, “No. You don’t.”

It was your turn for your cheeks to heat up, and you looked away at the floor, a soft smile on your face. You turned around, and gave Zuko the privacy to change himself.

You heard the rustling of his clothes coming off and dropping on the floor, and you just hoped that he couldn’t hear how loud your heart was pounding. You were so focused on not freaking out at the situation you were in, or the fact that you were literally currently being courted by the Fire Lord, that you didn’t even notice Zuko creep up on you. At least until he wrapped his arms around your torso, and kissed your cheek. The warmth poured off him, even more noticeable now that you were both in dry clothes.

His lips hovered over your ear, “Just returning the favor. Because I wanted to.”

Your breath completely froze in your chest, as you slowly turned in Zuko’s arms, spinning to face him. 

Tenderly, you rested your hand on his face, just below his scarred eye, as his arms tightened around your waist, pulling you flush against him in a snug embrace. 

Quietly, as if your next words might shatter the moment, you asked, “What are we doing?”

Zuko’s eyebrows scrunched up as he replied, “We are going to make tea…?”

“No, I mean, like what are we doing? What’s going on between us?” As you began to talk, Zuko’s hands fell from your waist, withdrawing from you slowly. You continued, starting to ramble slightly, “It’s just… you’re the Fire Lord! And I’m some commoner and I just, and we only met a week ago, and we don’t really know each other, and somehow in the few conversations since first seeing you in this tea shop, I’ve started to really feel something for you, but I have no clue what I’m doing. I don’t know what we’re doing...”

Slowly, as if he didn’t want to scare you away, he rested both of his hands on the sides of your face. His thumbs slowly rubbed your cheeks, the warmth soaking into your face, settling your nerves slightly.

“Y/N.” He spoke quietly, his eyes peering deep into your own. He sucked in a breath, before letting it out and spoke. “I know we barely know each other, yet I have never met another person that has had an effect on me like you. Somehow in just a few days, you burrowed your way into my soul. And I know the Fire Lord thing complicates things, but we can figure that out later. For now, I just want to learn everything I can about you. I want to be around you, and I want to listen to you laugh, I want to be the cause of your laugh… And I want to kiss you whenever I possibly can.”

Your breath hitched at his words, but you couldn’t pull your eyes away from Zuko’s searing gaze. Your brain turned to mush as you tried to process his words, but you could only truly think about him, right now, in front of you, staring at you as if you were his entire world.

His golden eyes glanced down to your lips, before looking at your eyes again, “May I kiss you?”

Words couldn’t form from your mouth, so all you could do was nod.

Your eyes fluttered shut as he stepped closer to you, your body flush against his as he closed the gap and pressed his lips to yours. One of his hands slid to your neck, cradling it closer to him, as the other slid around your lower back, holding you tightly. Your arms settled around his neck as you arched into him, fingers finding his hair.

His mouth wandered away from your lips, and started to pepper kisses against your jaw and then your neck. Your head fell back, as a soft moan escaped from mouth at the tender feeling of his lips against the bare sensitive skin of your neck.

At the sound, Zuko’s arms tightened even more around you, and a rumble sound in his chest.

You pulled back suddenly, a laugh bubbling up in your chest, as you smirked at Zuko, “Was that a growl?!”

His eyes widened, and stared at you sheepishly, “Maybe…”

You laughed, pulling away from his embrace, but gripping his hand firmly, “Don’t worry. I found it very hot, but let’s not forget the real purpose of this trip.”

You glanced down at his tea shop uniform, appreciating the look of the new clothes on him, “You promised me tea, and I plan to drink some of your finest”

Zuko chuckled softly, wrapping an arm around your waist, then steering you towards the kitchen.

“Why of course. You deserve nothing less. Plus, my Uncle would be very disappointed in me if I didn’t make you the very best of tea.”

You laughed, smiling widely at Zuko, your heart warmed, filled to the brim with happiness. And excitement for a good cup of tea.

***

This was most likely the last part! Thank you for reading :)

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