Dreamers (Zuko x Yue)

Strange Dreams

It had been a couple of months since Yue gave up learning to fight and her life hadn't changed much since then.

She still visited Tui and La, even if her brother wouldn't come with her anymore. And her mother and father still prepared her for her future as a princess of the tribe.

She was feeding Tui and La when she noticed it. They started swimming faster than usual, and Tui seemed to glow in excitement.

She didn't know why they were so happy, but she was glad that at least they were joyful. She hadn't been that happy since she gave up fighting all those months ago.

Sure, she still loved to learn healing from Yugoda but it just didn't feel right. She wanted to do more, she wanted to learn more.

But every time she tried, she remembered that it would never matter whether she learned it or not. She was a woman and she wasn't supposed to fight. She was a princess and her only duty was to her tribe and the husband she would be given one day.

So she wasted days studying and playing with Tekka whenever she could catch him. That was becoming rarer these days since he would usually spend time with Mira or Hahn instead of her.

She didn't hang out with him when Hahn was involved for obvious reasons. And she liked Mira but it was hard to hang out with them without feeling like a third wheel.

She was just counting down the days until Tekka asked Mira to marry him. Mira was 12 so Tekka had to wait another 4 years to try it.

She even had a bet with mom that he would do it the night of Mira's birthday. Mom said he would have to go to her father first so it would take longer.

Ha! Like he's going to wait that long. Tekka's never been patient. He'll ask her first then afterward he'll ask her father.

She thought it was funny that Tekka was going to have to explain to his father-in-law why he didn't follow tradition.

I can't wait to see that. He'll be fine because Mira's dad already adores him, but it'll be funny to watch.

So she spent the rest of her day as she normally did, feeding Tui and La and watching them swim excitedly. Curious as to why they were so happy.

Her questions were answered that night when she fell asleep and woke up in an Oasis a little larger than the one where Tui and La resided.

The Oasis had a pond, with strange creatures swimming around it. There was a single tree that sat at its edge, and if she looked closely she could see Koi fish swimming underneath the water. Flowers surrounded the edge of the pond, they shone a brilliant red that she had never seen before.

She looked around the Oasis, exploring what she could assume was a neat dream she wouldn't have again. The Oasis was surrounded by walls of ice just like at the North Pole, but this time there didn't seem to be a way out.

She sat down at the edge of the pond and wondered when her dream would be over when she heard a voice come from behind her.

"Who are you?"

............

Zuko was having a good day.

He had been stuck in training for most of it, sure. Azula beat him like she usually did and his father called him a disappointment like usual.

That was normal.

But that morning he had been told that Uncle Iroh was coming back.

Uncle had disappeared after Lu Ten died, and even though they had only hung out when Zuko was playing with Lu Ten, he was still excited to see him again.