Façades [A Zuko x OC Story]

25 - Welcome Home, Li Mei

"Hey! Kid! You have a guest. You better be respectful." The guard on the other side of the door yells at me. I can hear the door slide open but as my back is facing the door I cannot see who has entered though, I have a good idea of who.

"So nice of you to visit me. Prince Zuko." I say laced with sarcasm. I turn my head over my shoulder to meet his golden eyes, "I've been expecting you. Not that I actually wanted you to come." I spit. I turn around fully, sitting cross-legged.

"Thanks." He says sarcastically.

"What are you really doing here? I don't want to see the guy who brought me here coming into my space."

His expression changes to one of anger, "You could have joined me. You could've been a hero but you just chose to be a traitor just like my filthy uncle." I stare at him.

"How dare you speak of Iroh like that! You wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for him so I think he deserves some thanks for keeping your ungrateful butt in one piece." I say as cold as ice.

"He's a coward and a traitor." He furrows his brows.

"Of course, right, he's the coward... Definitely not the person who is too scared to stand up against his younger sister." His scowl deepens, "You can say whatever you want about me being a coward but if you ever call Iroh a coward again you will not live to see another day." I snap.

"I will leave you then." Zuko stands and before he exits the room I call out to him, "Good job on making the only two people who really care about you, hate you."

Day 2:

Once again, he sits across from the bars and all I can do is stare blankly at him. What does he want me to say? I'm sorry for what I said yesterday? Because I am not. If anyone should be apologizing it should be him.

He clears his throat, "The Avatar. Is he dead?" This catches my attention.

"Why would I tell you that? I can't trust you anymore. You would tell Azula or Ozai and make me look like the villain." I lean my elbows on my knees.

"The water tribe girl, she had water that could heal almost any injury. Could it stop the Avatar's death?" He interrogates.

"Maybe," I shake my head, "I have no idea. Looks like your going to have to find help somewhere else Prince Zuko,"

"You know!" He snaps.

"I don't." I turn my back to him and face the wall again until the sound of the door opening and closing can be heard.

Day 3:

For the third day in a row, Zuko sits in front of me. What does he want today? I wonder. He hasn't said anything since he walked in.

"They're moving you. Today." He says, finally looking at me. Moving? Like a new house but a new prison cell.

"Oh boy! Can they move me to the Boiling Rock so I can just jump in the water and die." I rest my chin in my hand with a fake smile on my face.

"Your home." He looks away from my gaze, "They're moving you to your old home." My childhood home. I haven't stepped foot there in four years.

"Did no one move in after my family left?"

"No." He responds. The door to the room opens and several guards stand ready.

"Prince Zuko, it would be best if you were not here during the move. She can be very dangerous."

"Do not worry, I do not wish to go with her," Zuko says without hesitation. The guards unlock the cell and wrap several cuffs and chains around my body. Instead of getting a ride by palanquin or even on the back of an ostrich-horse, I have to walk from the prison to my childhood home. These two buildings are not close.

My ankles and wrists are getting chafing on their chafing and it is very painful. It's absolutely humiliating walking through the streets of the Palace City and having every pair of eyes on me.

We arrive at last and nothing has changed, even the plants in the front yard are the same. The prison guards push me along the front walkway and through the front door. The chains and cuffs get removed and they back off from me.

"You are allowed to roam free on this property, you can thank the Fire Lord for that. If you attempt to leave the property without proper admission you will be sent back to where you came from." They finish their warning and slam the door. So, I am completely alone.

Shelves and walls are covered in paintings of my family and me and Zuko. The many memories of this house flood back to me. The scorch mark on the living room wall from when I first firebended. The hole in the main hall floor from when I tripped while chasing Zuko and banged my elbow right through the wood. Walking through our garden and to the back, our large hot spring is still flourishing. I look around me before slipping off my clothes and sliding into the hot spring. The warm water soothes my skin but burns my chafed arms just a little. Footsteps come up from behind me.

"You are many things, but I never took you as a pervert," I say to Zuko and I sink further under the water.

"I wanted to make sure you weren't going to try to escape. I don't know why my father would let someone like you out of prison." Zuko spits.

"Yeah, I really want to try and escape just so they can put me back into a small caged room." I blow bubbles into the water.

"It's where you deserve to be," Zuko grumbles.

"Of course it is." I chuckle dryly, "Maybe you should try sitting in there sometime. It will make you realize how well scum like yourself fit in there." I turn onto my stomach to actually face the boy to which I speak, "Give Mai my best wishes, it must be truly horrible for her to be spending all her time with you." I rest my arms on the ledge of the hot spring,

"You once did too."

"I did when you had some good in you. Now, you are completely horrid."