𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗳 | Zuko X Reader

Chapter 3: The Commander

A few days later Zuko's cut had healed and his dizziness completely wore off, but the entire time he showed a single ounce of weakness (y/n) was right by his side. This annoyed Zuko to no end, but it did allow him to spend more time with the girl than he had compared to the time before. Zuko's obsession with the avatar was severing multiple lines of communication within his small social group, that being his uncle and (y/n). He had only noticed this after spending so much more time with the girl than usual. She had actually got him to the point where he sat down for a game of Pai Sho, but refused to play and only watched. The last day he was 'dizzy', he truthfully wasn't.

He was capable to stand on his own and watch around the boat for hours, but he couldn't get over the warm touch of (y/n)'s fingers on his cheek in the morning. He couldn't get over the way she held tightly to his forearm, giggling about things she thought were funny when she was young, even pulling a small smile out of the prince. He couldn't get over how sincere her eyes were when she looked into his own, causing his heart to pound 20 times faster than usual.

But of course that couldn't last for long, especially when the large glowing light in the sky appeared. Zuko felt he hit a break that day. Finally, he was going to catch the avatar and bring honor back to his, and (y/n)'s, names. He was going to be able to move back into the fire nation and be a respected prince.

———

Attempting to capture the avatar didn't take long after that, nor was ending up at captain Zhao's port. They had to stop after the avatar had knocked an avalanche into their ship, causing major injuries to the deck and below.

(Y/n) puffed out air as she stood next to Zuko and Iroh, eyes peaking back at the ship ever so often. The fight took a lot out of them all, especially when her and Zuko were almost knocked completely off of the boat.

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail." Zuko spoke, looking over the dock.

"You mean the Avatar?" Iroh asked in a disinterested voice, which caused Zuko to angrily look back at him and (y/n) to press an index to her finger meaning 'shh!'.

"Don't mention his name on these docks! Once word gets out that he's alive, every firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way!" Zuko whisper yelled.

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" Captain Zhao spoke.

The three widened their eyes and looked over to the tall man as he walked up to them, (y/n) taking a step back. He made her uncomfortable, and he radiated the aura of evil.

"Captain Zhao." Zuko spoke, looking the man up and down.

"It's commander now. And General Iroh. Great hero of our nation. Oh, and who is this?" The general asked, eyeing the teen girl.

"Not important." Zuko spoke, standing in front of his gaze.

General Zhao let out a chuckle before speaking, "The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. Including your.. Companion. What brings you to my harbor?"

"Our ship is being repaired." Iroh then gestured to the severely damaged ship, making the general let out a hum.

"That's quite a bit of damage." Zhao stated, looking back down to Zuko.

"Yes. You wouldn't believe what happened. Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened." Zuko glanced at his uncle angrily, the older man widening his eyes.