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l-starlight-l · 1 year ago

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Forgiveness in the rain

A/n: switching it up and writing some atla. Enjoy!

Warning: Mention of burning

Description: You are surprised to see Zuko, the boy who you have a weird history with, working in a local tea shop. You don’t know how to feel, but confront him anyway.

Pairing: Zuko x Fem!Reader

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With Appa missing and the hovering Dai Li, the team was under a lot of tension. Ba sing sa was nothing like you thought it was going to be. The hope of getting the solar eclipse plan to the earth king vanished after the gala and now you had nothing. With no help from the earth kingdom winning this war would be a lot more difficult.

You’re usually an early raiser but this morning was different. You had slept way later than you meant to and had waste a good part of the morning hours. You quickly fixed yourself up and got ready for the day before exiting your room. When you walk out to the main area of your temporary home you see Sokka, and only Sokka which was unusual. He turned around hearing your footsteps and smiled. “Well good morning, you slept in late today” he warmly greeted you.

You let out a nervous laugh, “hey, where is everyone” you questioned while looking around the empty house.

“Well Aang was gone before I woke up, and Katara and Toph are have a “girls day”” he said making finger quotes when saying girls day.

Your heart hurt alittle, you were new to the group and they were still warming up to you but why would they not invite you out with them. Sokka could see what you were thinking and added “they wanted you to come but figured you needed your sleep”.

You just nodded trying not to think about it to much. “Aangs been going out so early, he’s going to tire himself out looking for appa” you were concerned about him, you knew appa meant the world to him. Sokka nodded his head in agreement. He was worried too.

There was a long awkward silence between the two of you. It not like you don’t like each other, it’s just that you don’t spend a lot of one on one with Sokka. So neither of you know what to talk about. Breaking the silence you ask Sokka if he would like to go to the market with you. He agrees, thinking he has nothing better to do and it may be fun. You two head off to explore the walled city.

After a few hours in the market you come out with necessary things like supplies and food. As well as unnecessary items like a hat to match Sokka’s purse and belt. You roll your eyes at his ridiculous purchase and decide to call it a day. You had over heard a shopkeeper talking about an amazing tea place and decided to try to find it.

After some searching you reach a small shop with a sign reading “The Jasmine Dragon” over the door. Sokka groans because ,as he’s mentioned multiple times on your way here, he hates tea and would rather go to a restaurant know for their perfectly cooked meat. You roll your eyes once again at this childlike boy. “Stop whining Sokka, I already told you we could go to the restaurant tomorrow” you try to silence his complaining as you walk into the shop.

The shop is pretty packet but lucky you find a table for two. The atmosphere is calming and fills you with serenity the second you walk in, which is much needed after the week you’ve had. A young brown haired girl comes up to take our order. You politely ask her for a cup of jasmine and order some pastries for the whiny baby across from you. When she leaves it becomes awkward again, you are horrible at making conversation and it seems Sokka just doesn’t know what to say.

A few moments later the girl comes back with your tea and explains that the pastries will be out soon. You can hear Sokka’s stomach from across the table. You laugh and take a sip of your hot tea. You eyes light up tasting what probably is the best tea you’ve ever had. Your mind drifted to when Iroh use to make you tea, it tasted just like this. You would have to come back often. You offer Sokka a taste, he makes a grossed out face and holds his hands out like the tea will attack him. He exclaims that he doesn’t want leaf juice, he’s learned his lesson drinking plants after the cactus juice.

You laugh and it goes back to silences, but it wasn’t awkward this time it was more comfortable. It seems that you two have started to warm up to each other a little more. You look around the small shop and take it all in. As your gaze drifts across a wall with a dividing curtain, you figure it leads to the kitchen. You’re about to move your eyes away when a farmilar face shows up. Your eyes widen as you watch the boy who has tried to kill you multiple times, go up to your sweet sever with a plate of cookies in his hand. Your heart races unsure of what to do as the sever points to our table. Your eyes met and he freezes. You look at Sokka who seems to be lost in his own world and then back up at Zuko. You drop your tea cup and it lands on the table. Sokka jumps up as his pant leg gets covered in hot tea. You also jump up still staring at Zuko who now looks more surprised. Sokka starts to look back to see what is distracting you but you grab his shoulder and it knocks you out of your trace.

“Oh my, Sokka I am so sorry like me help you” you say stressed. You raise your hands to the tea soaked area of his pants and bend the liquid out of the fabric and back into the tea cup. You then reach into your pocket and pull out a gold piece and leave it on the table. “You know what I think I’m feeling pretty hungry now, should we go to that meat restaurant” you say practically pushing Sokka to the door. He’s eyes light up and he rushes out the door leaving you behind. You stand there for a second looking at the floor then slowly turn your head to face him. He looks like the boy you knew so long ago. The boy you use to play with as a kid. He was lost after Zuko was banished, but now you can see he’s starting to come back. You can feel his change. He stares at you surprised, not knowing why you did that. Your eyes are sad and hurt, and you can tell he’s full with the same emotions. You hear Sokka call you and you rush out the door.

When you get back to the house later that night you see Katara and Toph dolled up and it makes you smile. Your glad they had a good time, even if you weren’t there. You look over and see Aang half asleep and you go over to him. “Hey, how are you doing” you ask. He looks at you, “I still haven’t found him, and the dai li are making it so hard”. You sigh and rub his shoulder in comfort, “why don’t you take a break tomorrow and I’ll go out and look for him”. Aang just nods and lays down to sleep. You hear the rest of the group saying their good nights and heading off to bed. You do the same but sneak out instead of sleeping.

You rush to the tea shop, your heart racing just thinking about what happen earlier. The lights are still on when you get there, you debate on going through the front door or seeing if there’s a back. As you creep closer you hear voices and laughter. An older man’s voice carries through your ears and you immediately recognize it as Iroh. You slowly opened the door and see a small group of men Sitting and drinking tea. They stopped talking and turned to you, one of the guys you didn’t recognize kindly let you know they were closed but Iroh got up and stood parallel to you. “Y/n?” He said softly, “oh I’m so glad to see your okay”. He holds out his arms for a hug and you run into his embrace. He holds you for a minute and you realize how much you missed him. You think he’s the only good thing that came from the fire nation. He lets you go and turns to the table, “this is my old friend y/n” he has a big smile and is so proud to introduce you. You shyly wave and say hi, then you realize why your here and look around attentively. “He’s in the back, why don’t you go say hi” he motions for me to go towards the curtain. You hesitate but go as he tells you. You pull back the curtain and see the back of a tall boy with dark hair scrubbing dishes, something old Zuko would never even think about doing. “Do you need some more tea uncle” he asks while wiping his wet hands off. As he turns you take a step back out of instinct, when he sees you his face goes white. “You” is all he can muster out. “Me” you try to hide the emotion on your face. You’ve always seen good in zuko, even when you were helping him hunt down the avatar. He was just a scared boy who wanted something he thought was taken from him. He starts to walk to you and you back up til you hit the wall. His hands are reached out to you in a concerned manner but in your head you see the hands that burned you months before. All you can think of to do is run, so you ran. You ran all the way back to the house, when you get there you sit on the steps trying to catch your breath. You couldn’t stop thinking about the last time you were that close to him. You had gone against his command and protected the avatar. You let aang and his group get away while trying to talk down Zuko. But that didn’t work and he ended up shoot a fire shot straight at you. He’s different now, you can feel he’s different you just need to get over yourself. You go inside quietly as to not get caught and try to get some sleep.

The next day you search for appa and it ends with nothing. You’ve searched the whole city and you’re sure aang has searched it more than fifty times. Appa is no where to be found. You wander the streets for a little before going back to the house. You walk past the Jasmine dragon and see Iroh out front. He spots you before you can sneak by. You go up to him and you can see worry in his eyes. “Yesterday you ran off without saying goodbye” he says. You just nod ashamed. “I understand why you may feel uneasy with Zuko but I also understand that you’ve forgiven him, even if you haven’t said it out loud yet. He wasn’t the same after what happened, he misses you but he’ll never admit it, I can tell”. you don’t know what to say, you just let his words resinate with you. “Thank you” you say quietly, and then look at the door and see it start to open. “Uncle what’s taking you so-“ he starts before seeing you and freezing. You look at him, you stare into his soul to try to see if he’s truely changed but you can’t tell just from a look. “Will you meet me later?” You mumble to him, he nods and you leave to go back to the group. When you get back it’s already dark, you have to deliver the bad news about not finding Appa but no one really seems surprised. Soon after everyone goes to bed and you sneak out once again. You begin to walk to a fountain you found your first day adventuring the city. Zuko is already there, you watch as he messes with his fingers and fixes his hair. He’s just as nervous as you are and it makes you smile. You walk up to him, and sit down on the edge of the fountain. He looks down at you with big eyes, you softly pat the spot next to you. He sits down trying not to be to in your space. There’s a moment of silence that feels both awkward and comfortable. “I’m sorry for running last night, I- I don’t know why I did” you apologize. He looks alittle surprised, “why should you be sorry I should be the one apologizing” he takes a breath and then let’s it all out, “I am so sorry for what happened that night, I’m a fool and never wanted to hurt you, it’s haunted me every since”. You don’t say anything at first, just to give him a hard time. You reach and touch his hand, “that wasn’t you Zuko, that was the rage you’re father has filled you with” you hover your finger over his scare. “You were so clouded by fulfilling a destiny that isn’t yours, I forgive you, I forgave you a long time ago” you raise his hands to your mouth and lay a light kiss on them.

He’s face lightens at the touch. “Thank you, I don’t deserve this” he says in a whisper. You just shake your head and look up at the stars. They’re so bright tonight and you see it as a sign. Suddenly rain starts pouring on the two of you, you laugh as Zuko pops up from his seat. “Let’s get under some cover”, he locks his fingers with yours and try’s to pull you under a near by roof. You don’t follow him and take both his hands. “why, let’s enjoy the beautiful storm” before he can say anything you run deep into the rain. “Do you remember those dances we learned in school” you ask eagerly. he nods, “good” you say with a smirk. You place your hands in the respected places and he does the same. You start to move, spin, and become in sync again. He isn’t the best dancer and steps on your feet a few times but you don’t mind. You laugh and he smiles, your eyes are glued together. He shifts his hands so that they are on the small of your back and you happen to be closer than you meant to. You’re eye contact breaks for the first time that night as you look at his soft lips. You lean up and kiss him. He’s taken aback for a second, but only for a second then he’s kissing you right back. He moves his hands to you face, cupping your cheeks and deepening the kiss. A widow opens in one of the near by houses and an old women yells out the window “get off my street you punks”. You both freeze and she goes back inside. You break and laugh, he takes your hand, “my apartment is close let’s go”.

When you get there you see a well decorated, clean little apartment. You see Iroh asleep, and quietly creep by into what you think is Zukos room. You’re both soaking wet. You bend the water out of your clothes, and go to bend his but he’s already taken off his shirt. You blush but dry off his pants. “it’s raining pretty hard out there” he say suddenly looking really awkward, “why don’t you stay the night”. He scratches the back of his head waiting for you to answer. You blush and a small smile grows on your lips as you respond, “I would love to”. He smiles and you both lay down in his bed. You drift off to sleep to the sound of the storm.

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