|•|W I T 卄 E R||•| Zuko X Reader ⚠SLOWBURN⚠

Emotions & Thoughts

"What's the difference?" He pulled away from her, surprising you and Katara at his cold, harsh tone. "We won't survive without Appa, we all know it."

In a strange way... You were reminded of yourself when you found yourself in the Fire Nation. Seeing Aang act the way he was... It hurt. Because you understood so much.

"Aang... We can do this if we work together! Right, Toph?" Katara said.

"As far as I can feel, we're in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothin'."

Katara looked at you, hopeful. You looked away from her. As much as you wanted to agree with her... You'd be lying. And you weren't going to lie to Aang.

"Ugh... We're getting out of this desert, and we're going to do it together. Aang, get up. Everybody, hold hands. We can do this. We have to."

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"I think we should stop for the night." You laid down in the sand, exhausted. Purple cracks were reaching your thighs. At least you were getting stronger.

Katara devised a plan for everyone to reach Ba Sing Se, by utilizing a few items Sokka had "borrowed" from Wan Shi Tong. You would follow the stars to Ba Sing Se, traveling at night and resting during the day. "Just try to get some sleep. We'll start again in a few hours."

You watched as everyone shut their eyes, slowly falling asleep. Well, other than Sokka. He immediately fell asleep.
You were the final one to shut your eyes, allowing your consciousness to drift into the depths of your mind.

...

...

...

...

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You were back in the Fire Nation. You rubbed your eyes, confused. You could feel your surroundings. Were you dreaming? You stared at your gloves. These are...!

You were a child again. A large shadow loomed over you. You could recognize the scenario.

"Zhao..." You let out a chuckle. It was awfully ironic, the fact you were only going to fight him in your dreams. But... Something was wrong.

It wasn't Zhao.

It was you.

It was you, the current you. Your eyes were dark and hollow, a strange gloomy aura was emitted from your appearance. Just looking upon your own face stung, as if you were being prickled by a thousand thorns, slowly slicing through your skin as you realized what was about to happen.

"Monster..." Y/N whispered.
The world melted into an deep blue. 
You couldn't recognize yourself.
"It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault." Like nails on a chalkboard, your alter repeated those words. It sounded soft and gentle at first, before it transformed into an awful screeching.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT."

The moon turned blood red. You were drowning in an ocean. Dozens of dead koi fish filled the water. "YOUR FAULT YOUR FAULT YOUR FAULT." You couldn't swim upwards. Waves came crashing down on you. You were suffocating.

The ocean turned into a floor of fire, burning you instantly. Smoke filled your lungs."YOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOUR
FAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULT." You could see someone's silhouette moving through the flames. You cried out for help.

They crept closer to you. Tears fell from your eyes as you saw who it was. "Zuko!"
He walked up to you, gave you a glance...

And walked away.

Despite the fire burning you alive, you were frozen. Y/N approached you with a dead look in her eyes. "It's all your fault..." You slammed your eyes shut as a massive wave of void rammed into your body.

"NO!" You were hyperventilating, sweating, and crying at the same time. You began to calm down as you saw your surroundings. You were in the desert again. You were you again.

"Ergh...." You wiped away your tears and brought your knees to your chest. "..." You stared up at the moon. It was glowing bright.

You stared at your arms. The burns Zhao gave you were gone, thanks to Katara.

You stared at your butter-fly. You held it close.

You noticed Aang sitting up, searching the sky. "You can't sleep either, huh?" You muttered, watching the clouds. "Appa's probably having a hard time, too." Aang said. His voice was barely above a whisper. "...Aang. You need to rest. Try to take your mind off of-"

"NO!" He gave you a glare, "I'm not turning my back on him! It's like none of you even cared about him! None of you understand!" You looked at him blankly, "I understand. We all do."
Aang furrowed his eyebrows, urging you to continue.

"Sokka, Katara and I... We all lost our mom." You hummed. "At least you had each other. Me? All my friends... All the monks, they're..." Aang hung his head and grit his teeth.

"Dealing with pain like this on your own... It's hard." As you spoke to him, you were speaking to yourself. "I... I lost... Or rather, feel like I've lost someone dear to me. I... I let him go when he needed me. I abandoned him in his time of need."

"...Toph... I was yelling at her earlier, but- But she left her family. Even if they weren't the best people, she never got to experience that kind of love. She's lost family... Like I've lost Appa." Aang clenched his fists, "I-I... I've been hurting you guys... But you're all family, too. I've been blaming you all, but..." He shut his eyes, tears falling from them.

"No, Aang." You gave the boy a hug, allowing him to sob into your shoulder. "None of this is your fault. None of it."

After some time, Aang had cried until his tears ran dry and fell asleep. You placed him on the sand.

This time... You acted. You felt a strange relief. As you laid down on the desert floor, you noticed... You were crying, too.