Fire You Are (Zuko Love Story)

Under the Shadow

I open my eyes and everything around me is black. This is odd... where am I? I turn around, I look in every direction possible. Up, down... this doesn't make any sense. Even the ground is black. As far as the eye can see, there's nothing. I'm in a void of emptiness, alone and deserted.

"Zuko?" I call out.

But I get no answer. 

I'm about to start walking, but doubt about it in an instant. It's bad enough I can't see anything. I look down at myself though, and realize I can see my own body perfectly, as though it was perfectly lit and instead of being in a lightless place, I'm somewhere completely empty. 

Then, the entire ground below me catches fire except for the one meter radius I find myself in. I try bending the fire to make a path or an opening for myself, but it's useless. It's as if my bending was gone. After trying to firebend with no result, the ground starts filling with water to the point where my feet are inmersed in it. I keep trying to bend the fire, but I bend the water instead.

The flames go out on their own and in an instant and a violent and strung gust of wind threatens to tip me over. I hold out both of my hands and create a bubble to shield me from the air, though I still struggle with its strength. Soon, I become tired, and can't hold up the bubble anymore. I am carried with the wind and fall to the ground, rolling for a couple meters. The wind stops and I can finally get up, but when I'm about to, the ground starts to shake in the form of an earthquake.

"No!" I yell. "Stop!"

The ground keeps shaking, but I can't let that stop me. I have to get out of wherever it is I am. I place my hands on the floor and, when I do, the ground stops moving and everything is completely still, as though I had stopped the earthquake.

I look up and see the silhouette of a person standing before me. I can tell it's male because of the height and the broad shoulders.

"Zuko?" I ask softly.

No response. The person just stands there and I can barey see the outline of his body, as if he was being lit by a dim, nearby fire. 

I stand up, convinced it isn't Zuko. "Who are you?!"

Whoever he is, he turns his back on me and begins to walk away.

"Get back here!" I yell. "Talk to me, please!"

In a desperate attempt to get an answer from whoever this person is, I try firebending once more. A very large blast of fire releases from both of my hands as I thrust them forward. The man turns around and blocks the blast of fire. The fire, however, was enough for me to see his face.

It's not Zuko. Oh, I wish it was, but this is someone I'm sure not even Zuko wants to see, no matter how badly he wants to return.

It's the Fire Lord. I recognize his attire, his face from paintings I saw when we were at the Fire Nation. I recognize the headpiece he wears on his hair, and that expression of hate.

But seeing the Fire Lord isn't even the worst thing. I only have to lay my eyes on him for a fraction of a second to recognize him and everything he implies, but after that, visions start to circle around my in a violent whirlwind. I see Zuko, Azula, the Avatar, the Yin and the Yang, Ozai shooting hordes of unimaginable fire at his enemies, I see my black lightning, regular lightning, I see Katara getting hurt, I see a girl laughing at me, an eclipse, I see a prison, sorrow, I see Zuko not even hesitating to-

"Aida!"

I sit up with a start and breathe heavily catching my breath. The sunglight invades my eyes forcing me to close them again. I was asleep... I was still sleeping after last night and all of that was just a dream.