Dreamers (Zuko x Yue)

Change pt. 2

"He has banished you nephew. He said you can't return without the avatar."

Zuko took a second to process the terms of his father's punishment.

He let out a humorless laugh as he grasped the true terms of his banishment.

"Ha. The Avatar that hasn't been seen in 100 years. He wants me to hunt that Avatar."

Iroh watched with concern as his nephew let out a self-deprecating laugh. He saw the pain hidden behind his nephew's cackling.

Slowly his nephew descended into silence, never leaving his downcast eyes from the ground as he did so.

"He doesn't want me back does he?"

Iroh wished he could lie to his nephew, but he knew that his brother wanted Zuko to die from his injuries. He probably would have if Iroh hadn't called a medic in time.

Iroh shook his head slowly, "No nephew he doesn't."

Zuko took the information with a numb acceptance. He had already known his father was disappointed in him, he had been told as much every day since training started.

But now his father had as good as disowned him, ensuring that he would never be allowed to return home.

Part of him wanted to try and find the Avatar. Part of him wanted to see if he could get back home, see if he could finally get his father's approval.

But his mind flashed back to his first time finding out he could heal, holding his mother's bruised cheek as she warned him.

Her voice floated into his mind, Your father is not a good man, if he finds out your different from other Firebenders he will hurt you.

He chuckled at the irony.

Mother was right.

Zuko turned out to be weaker than other Firebenders and his father did hurt him. Repeatedly, precisely, and ruthlessly until he finally had enough of Zuko and got rid of him.

He looked at his hand and wondered if he should try to heal his injury.

The second he thought of lighting a flame his mind flashed back to the sensation of his skin melting off his face. The agony of having his face scarred until all he could smell was the charred remains of his burnt flesh.

He looked away from his shaky hand and refused to look at Uncle's gaze.

"I think I need some time alone."

Iroh nodded sadly, knowing his nephew needed time to process what had happened to him.

"I will be right outside for when you need me."

Zuko watched as Iroh closed the door behind him, leaving the room in total darkness.

Zuko fell asleep, opening his eyes to the grey interior of his cabin instead of the icy blue of the Oasis.

What?

..........

HOW DARE HE!

Agni hadn't been this angry since Sozin attacked the air nomads. He hadn't burned this hotly since Sozin started the hunts of his beloved friends, the dragons.

He was boiling in anger as he heard someone enter his domain.

Tui entered his domain with a panicked expression, La following close behind her.

Agni! What happened!? Yue didn't make it to the dream Oasis. She was crying about it hysterically, what's going on?

Tui and La froze as they saw Agni turn toward them with a murderous expression.

Tui had known Agni for a long time, and she knew he wasn't one to anger easily. He may have been hotheaded, but his true anger was hard to come by. He was the sun, he liked to comfort and warm those that sought him out.

But looking at Agni now she knew something was wrong. He looked livid, she hadn't seen him this angry since Sozin started the war.

She soothed her voice, trying to calm the rising anger coming off of Agni.

Agni, what happened?

Agni looked at his sister and forced himself to calm down.

He burned it.

Tui looked at Agni, a little confused at his explanation.

What do you mean, he burned it?

Tui and La watched as Agni failed to calm his anger.

The boy's father. He burned the mark off him. He burned the blessing off him! HE DARED TO SAY THAT HE DIDN'T DESERVE THE BLESSING I GAVE HIM!!

La stepped protectively in front of Tui as Agni lost control of his anger. Agni's domain shaking with heat as he raged at the desecration of his human.

Agni's domain stopped shaking after a minute. He looked at Tui's horror stricken face, and even if he knew it wasn't aimed at him he still felt ashamed.

I'm sorry Tui and La, I didn't mean to lose control like that.

Tui ran up and hugged her brother. She knew how painful it was to see a human you cared about hurt. She had felt it enough to know how Agni was feeling.

It's okay Agni. I don't blame you. Your human was hurt, it's natural your angry.

Agni sighed, releasing some of the tension he had.

Thanks Tui. I'm sorry about the dream Oasis. I couldn't save it when he lost his mark.

Tui mourned the loss of the gift her and Agni had so carefully crafted for their humans, but she understood.

Zuko losing his mark made the connection between him and Agni weaker. The same would happen to her if Yue lost her white hair.

It's okay Agni. You did what you could.

La watched as Tui and Agni comforted each other. He may not have been as invested as the two of them in their human's affairs, but it still hurt to know that they lost their connection.

He had watched Yue come to him and Tui in tears, begging them to bring back the Oasis, asking them if she did anything wrong. It hurt him to see the human Tui loved so heartbroken, and even more so because there wasn't anything they could do about it.

The dream Oasis was created by connecting Yue and Zuko through their connection to Tui and Agni. Now that Zuko's connection was weakened, neither of the humans would be able to get to the Oasis.

La wasn't one to wish anything of humans. He kept his distance and let them live their short lives as they pleased.

But as he watched Tui and Agni despair over the misfortune of their humans, he wished that Zuko and Yue would find a way to make it through this.